Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are awaiting (a) an initial decision and (b) a further review of their claim for asylum; and what steps she is taking to ensure claims are assessed (i) fairly and (ii) within an appropriate timeframe.

The Home Office publishes data on the number asylum applications awaiting an initial decision or further review and can be found at Asy_04 of the published Immigration Statistics, Asylum applications awaiting a decision, by duration:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets#asylum-applications-decisions-and-resettlement

There are a number of factors that contribute to the length of time to process asylum claims but we are determined to clear the outstanding cases, speed up decisions and prevent people becoming stuck in the system for long periods of time.

We are working to streamline cases and have already made significant progress in prioritising cases with acute vulnerability, those in receipt of the greatest level of support including, Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children, and those that require a reconsideration.

Asylum Operations has developed a recovery plan focused on returning interviews and decisions back to pre-COVID-19 levels as soon as possible. We are also seeking to secure temporary resources to assist from within the Home Office and other government departments, along with other potential options. We are also progressing transformation plans and looks at ways to reform a broken system.