§ Baroness Scotland of AsthalThe National Asylum Support Service (NASS) has been reviewing its processes and policies with a view to increasing efficiency and reducing numbers in emergency accommodation.
A concession in the dispersal policy, where NASS departed from the policy of dispersal if a family had a child that had attended a particular school for a year, was part of this review. The concession was designed to enable us to ensure that asylum seeker families in receipt of DWP benefits and who were transferring to NASS support, following receipt of a negative asylum decision (such cases are often referred to as disbenefited cases), could continue to be supported in the accommodation they had been living in while in receipt of benefits.
We agreed in August that this concession should be amended. In considering the change, regard was given to the need to balance disruption to the education of a child with the availability of suitable accommodation in non-dispersal areas. Consideration was also given to the number of families who remained in emergency accommodation—which is not intended for long-term occupation—in London and other areas for long periods of time.
The revised policy came into force on Friday 13 August 2004. The change in policy was announced by a letter dated 13 August, from the director of NASS to the membership of the National Asylum Support Forum, copied to LGA, ALG, COSLA and the Chief Asylum Support Adjudicator. A copy of the letter was placed on the Home Office website and NASS wrote to all families affected by this change.
Under the new policy, dispersal is temporarily deferred where an asylum seeker has a dependent child in their household who has started the final school or college year leading up to their GCSE, AS or A-level exams (or their equivalents). This is provided they have 53WS been enrolled at that school or college for a significant part of the previous school or college year.
However, families will not benefit from this concession if they have been unco-operative (for example if they have failed to travel to dispersal accommodation without reasonable excuse) or have switched the type of their NASS application without good reason, and this has resulted in their dispersal being delayed until their child is in the final school year leading to their GCSE, AS or A-level exam.
Families with children who are in the school year leading to statutory assessment tasks (SATs) will not benefit from the concession.
If a family has a child with special educational needs who has gained entry to an appropriate school, dispersal will normally be postponed until arrangements are in place for the child to transfer to a suitable school in the dispersal area.
Cases that fall outside the revised criteria will be examined on their own merits, although the expectation is that dispersal will normally be appropriate.
Families in emergency accommodation who applied for support before 13 August 2004—and whose dispersal may have been postponed as a result of the previous policy—have been reassessed under the new policy. This assessment took account of all known circumstances and consideration was given to whether dispersing the family would be reasonable. In order to minimise disruption to children and schools NASS aimed to arrange for a move to new accommodation to take place before the start of the new school year.
Disbenefited families supported by NASS prior to 13 August 2004, who met the terms of the concession in place before that date and where arrangements have been made with a local authority to pay their rent and utilities, will not be reassessed under the new policy unless their accommodation becomes unsustainable for some reason.
We are considering other changes to the policy on dispersal and we may announce any further changes to the House when decisions have been taken.