§ Mr. GaleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when the audit of Kent county council's claim relating to asylum seeker costs will be completed; and if he will make a statement on its delay; [155027]
(2) when his Department will publish the grant rules for asylum costs for the current year; [155028]
(3) what asylum costs were paid by (a) his Department and (b) Kent county council; and if he will make a statement. [155029]
§ Beverley Hughes[holding answer 23 February 2004]: The audit of Kent county council's claims relating to asylum support costs is the responsibility of the District Auditor. Audit work on the claim for 2002–03 was delayed initially by work required to finalise the lists of asylum seekers eligible for support during the year. The due date for the completion of the 2002–03 audit has been set at 31 March 2004. At present the council are also investigating the exact amount of the outstanding balance for 2002–03 and this may also delay the completion of the audit.
The instructions for 2003–04 relating to Adults and Families were published in June 2003. The instructions for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker Children (UASC) were published in January 2004.
The Home Office reimburses local councils for asylum support costs via a series of interim payments during the year. Kent county council submitted four interim claims in 2002–03 and three for the year to date in 2003–04. These have all been paid. The outstanding balance for 2002–03 is subject to investigation as mentioned above. If it is agreed that a significant amount has not been covered by the interim claims in 2002–03 then the Home Office is prepared to make a further payment against the final audited claim.