Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals in Northern Ireland receive asylum support under section 95, section 98 or section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Data on the number of asylum seekers receiving support is published quarterly in the Immigration System Statistics data tables available on GOV.UK.
The latest published figures show that, as at 31 December 2025, the following numbers of individuals were receiving asylum support in Northern Ireland:
The next Immigration System Statistics release is due on 21 May 2026.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hotels in Northern Ireland are currently being used for asylum accommodation, broken down by local government district.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Exiting the use of asylum hotels as quickly as possible remains one of the Government’s top priorities. We made a clear commitment to return these hotels to local communities, and we are delivering on that promise. As is widely recognised, this is a complex undertaking that must be carried out through a controlled, managed and orderly programme of work.
The number of hotels used to accommodate asylum seekers is significantly lower than at its peak under the previous government in summer 2023, when more than 400 hotels were in use at a cost of almost £9 million per day. As of 20 April, fewer than 190 hotels are in use.
It is longstanding policy that we do not publicly comment on individual hotels which may or may not be utilised. However, data on the number of asylum seekers receiving accommodation support, broken down by accommodation type including hotels, is published quarterly as part of the Immigration system statistics on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding has been provided to the Executive Office, Department for Communities, Department of Health, Department of Education, councils, charities or contractors in Northern Ireland for asylum or refugee integration since 2019.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Responsibility for the integration of refugees and asylum seekers is a devolved matter. In Northern Ireland, policy and delivery in this area sit with the Northern Ireland Executive, led by the Executive Office and delivered across devolved departments, local councils and third‑sector partners.
The UK Government provides funding through multiple departments, but decisions on the allocation and use of that funding for integration purposes are matters for the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers in Northern Ireland are awaiting a decision, broken down by length of wait.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested about the number of asylum seekers in Northern Ireland awaiting appeal, further submissions, or decision broken down by length of wait is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
The Home Office publishes the total number of cases awaiting an initial asylum decision in the ASY_02 table of Immigration and Protection Data: October to December 2025 available here: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK.
Information on the number of asylum and further submissions appeals is published by HMCTS and is available here: Tribunals statistics quarterly: October to December 2025 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers in Northern Ireland are awaiting appeal or further submissions.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested about the number of asylum seekers in Northern Ireland awaiting appeal, further submissions, or decision broken down by length of wait is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
The Home Office publishes the total number of cases awaiting an initial asylum decision in the ASY_02 table of Immigration and Protection Data: October to December 2025 available here: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK.
Information on the number of asylum and further submissions appeals is published by HMCTS and is available here: Tribunals statistics quarterly: October to December 2025 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much has been paid to private providers for asylum accommodation in Northern Ireland in each year since 2019-20.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office holds one contract for the provision of asylum accommodation in Northern Ireland. Information on this contract, including the original contract value, is publicly available:
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NI - Contracts Finder
Information on total spend to date is commercially sensitive and cannot be disclosed.
In relation to value for money, the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC contracts) were procured through a competitive tender exercise that adhered to the Public Contracts Regulation 2015. The bid evaluation process identified the most economically advantageous tender, assessing the quality and cost of bid proposals, to ensure best value to the UK taxpayer.
For any new requirements introduced to these contracts following contract award, providers are asked to provide priced proposals. These proposals are assessed, challenged and negotiated by Home Office representatives; ensuring that best pricing is achieved.
The Home Office monitors the AASC Providers’ performance against a range of Key Performance Indicators ensuring performance is driven to deliver maximum value for money for the taxpayer.
The contracts require the establishment and operation of governance structures and regular reporting enabling the Home Office to effectively manage the providers and hold them to account. These include a monthly contract management meeting, and quarterly strategic and executive boards where operational and commercial priorities are addressed and discussed, including financial performance.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the value for money of asylum accommodation contracts operating in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office holds one contract for the provision of asylum accommodation in Northern Ireland. Information on this contract, including the original contract value, is publicly available:
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NI - Contracts Finder
Information on total spend to date is commercially sensitive and cannot be disclosed.
In relation to value for money, the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC contracts) were procured through a competitive tender exercise that adhered to the Public Contracts Regulation 2015. The bid evaluation process identified the most economically advantageous tender, assessing the quality and cost of bid proposals, to ensure best value to the UK taxpayer.
For any new requirements introduced to these contracts following contract award, providers are asked to provide priced proposals. These proposals are assessed, challenged and negotiated by Home Office representatives; ensuring that best pricing is achieved.
The Home Office monitors the AASC Providers’ performance against a range of Key Performance Indicators ensuring performance is driven to deliver maximum value for money for the taxpayer.
The contracts require the establishment and operation of governance structures and regular reporting enabling the Home Office to effectively manage the providers and hold them to account. These include a monthly contract management meeting, and quarterly strategic and executive boards where operational and commercial priorities are addressed and discussed, including financial performance.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers are currently housed in Northern Ireland in hotels, initial accommodation, dispersal accommodation and contingency accommodation.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Northern Ireland is not a dispersal area and asylum seekers are not routed between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Northern Ireland’s asylum population is proportionate to its population when compared to the UK. Because Northern Ireland is not a dispersal area, only those claiming for asylum in Northern Ireland are housed there.
Data is published quarterly on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, broken down by type, can be found within the Immigration system statistics data tables available on GOV.UK.
The latest release shows that on 31 December 2025, the following numbers of asylum seekers were being provided with accommodation:
The next statistics release is due on 21 May 2026.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what Northern Ireland-specific data her Department holds but does not publish on asylum, immigration enforcement, removals and foreign national offenders.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will publish a Northern Ireland-specific asylum expenditure table covering accommodation, subsistence, healthcare-related support, education-related support, legal support, transport, security, integration and contract administration since 2019.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.