§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been provided with accommodation at public expense in(a) Hampshire and (b) Basingstoke and Deane borough council in each year since 1997; what type of accommodation they were given; and what the nature of the tenancy was in each case. [143139]
§ Beverley HughesThe information is not available in the form requested.
Figures in respect of asylum seekers in receipt of accommodation support from the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) are published at the end of each quarter by local authority area.
Figures for the areas requested as at the end of each quarter since December 2002 are shown in the table:
Statistics on the number of asylum seekers supported by NASS in each region are available on the Home Office's Immigration and Asylum Statistics website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1. html
Numbers in NASS accommodation as at end Unitary/Local authority December 2002 March 2003 June 2003 September 2003 Southampton 460 440 435 445 Portsmouth 340 380 510 555