Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 123154, what the plans are which are in place to reduce the number of asylum cases older than six months which are still awaiting a decision.

The Home Office has detailed plans designed to reduce the number of cases older than six months which are still awaiting a decision . These include a staff retention strategy to ensure it retains its highly skilled asylum decision makers, further expansion of digital processes to increase caseworking flexibility and the creation of a new team in Bootle which has been specifically established to tackle the older cases in the asylum system. This team has been designed to establish and roll out best practise in the management of older cases.