Asylum Seekers: MoD Housing

Lord Murray of Blidworth Excerpts

Thursday 30th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I am grateful that the noble Lord has put his finger on a point that the Government have also put their finger on. The current initial claim for decision-making on outstanding asylum decisions is around 91,000. In the last three months alone, the number of people awaiting that initial decision has fallen by 19,000, or 17%. That is because we have taken decisions to put extra staff into that area to speed up asylum applications, and we are looking at using that newfangled thing, AI, to try to improve speedy applications and understanding of those applications. It is absolutely right that we get those application numbers down. The number of people awaiting a decision is down by 24% over the period of the previous Government.

[Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con)]

My Lords, when I was standing in the shoes of the Minister, answering questions about our plans to put asylum seekers in military accommodation, noble Lords will recall the waves of opprobrium received from the Labour Benches, and in particular the Labour Front Bench. I welcome the Government’s change of heart. There is nothing quite like the joy of a sinner who repenteth. As an officer cadet, I too stayed in Cameron barracks. It is largely barrack-room accommodation. The previous Government were the subject of litigation in relation to the use of Penally and Napier barracks. The courts found that the accommodation was unsuitable on human rights grounds because it was not individual accommodation. How do the Government propose to address that issue in relation to their new plans?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

When the noble Lord stood in my shoes there were 400 hotels being used, and there are now 200. There was also a higher backlog of asylum accommodation, as the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, referred to, because he put his faith in a Rwanda scheme that removed nobody. When he was in my shoes, he failed miserably in dealing with an issue that his shoes put in place in the first place.

Let us put that to one side. He has asked a perfectly legitimate question. We want to ensure that we are not subject to legal challenge, and it is important we do that. That decision, ultimately, is not for us to determine. We want to make sure that we provide accommodation that is of an acceptable standard, but a standard that, as I have mentioned to the House, is temporary. This is so that we can end both asylum accommodation and, in the long term, this type of accommodation. In doing so, we can stop small boat crossings happening in the first place.