§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seeking households containing children or pregnant women were placed in bed and breakfast accommodation by the National Asylum Support Service under legislation other than the Housing Act 1996 and are as a consequence not included in the provisions of the Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 in each of the last five years. [152333]
§ Beverley Hughes[holding answer 2 February 2004]: The general practice of the National Asylum Support Service is that households containing children or pregnant women are not placed in bed and breakfast accommodation in dispersal areas.
However, NASS grant funds six voluntary sector agencies to provide emergency accommodation, which is temporary accommodation provided pending dispersal, who provide a mixture of accommodation which may include bed and breakfast accommodation.
I am unable to provide the requested information and could only do so at disproportionate cost.
§ Glenda JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answers of 25 February 2004,Official Report, column 277, to the hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Inverness West, (1) with which countries the Government is in negotiations, other than Tanzania, on how to process claims for asylum nearer to the country of origin; [158114]
(2) whether such claims would be for recognition of refugee status in (a) Tanzania and (b) the UK; [158115]
(3) whether the processing of such claims for non-Tanzanian nationals would be carried out in Tanzania. [158286]
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§ Beverley HughesApart from Tanzania, we have not yet started any negotiations with other countries. These partnerships are not about processing asylum claims nearer to the country of origin. Rather the Tanzanians are helping us to establish whether certain failed asylum seekers in the United Kingdom who claimed as Somali are in fact Tanzanian. We are also seeking to help them better manage their own refugee caseload.