Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the revenue to be generated from proposals in the Immigration and Asylum Bill for asylum seekers to contribute towards their accommodation costs; and what projections her Department has made of how those proposals will operate in practice.

The Government has introduced reforms to the protection system to ensure that protection is provided where it is needed, while also creating a fair and sustainable immigration system.

With regards to costs and legal aid provision, only people who stay on Core Protection will have their status reviewed every 30 months, with a 20-year route to settlement. Those who switch into the work and study route will be able to earn down the 20-year period.

The approach to reviewing status will be efficient and targeted; we will reassess where country conditions or personal circumstances have changed significantly. Renewal applications will be simple, negating the need for applicants to routinely require legal advice prior to applying.

We will build on efficiencies such as our policy search tool or case summarisation which are already assisting asylum decision makers. We will continue to monitor staffing levels and will deploy our workforce flexibly subject to business needs as we have done in the past.

The full details of the Core Protection offer, and the Protection Work and Study route, remain subject to further policy development which will be set out in due course.

Those who need to seek immigration advice from an immigration adviser for help regarding permission to stay in the UK (including how to check the eligibility for legal aid which can help pay for legal advice) can find information here: Find an immigration adviser - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Legal aid is overseen by the Ministry of Justice.

The Asylum and Immigration Bill provides powers to require adults who have received asylum support and accommodation to make a contribution towards those costs where they are financially able to do so. Detailed design of the scheme, including repayment thresholds, exemptions, repayment rates, mechanisms for collection and operational delivery, will be set out in secondary legislation following Royal Assent. As these elements have not yet been finalised it would be premature to provide an estimate of future revenue. The Government will set out further information in due course.