Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Part 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Bill, what estimate has been made of the administrative cost of recovering contributions from recipients of asylum support.

The Immigration and Asylum Bill introduces the principle that, where a person has received taxpayer-funded asylum support and later becomes financially able to contribute towards those costs, it is right and fair that they should do so.

Contribution levels will be designed to be fair and proportionate. The payment will take the form of a flat-rate charge, with eligible adults paying off an amount above a set threshold. Payments will be linked to receiving settled status in this country. Those who have received support and been removed from the country will not be able to return until their debt is repaid.

The detailed design of the scheme, including repayment thresholds, exemptions, repayment rates, mechanisms for collection and operational delivery, will be set out in secondary legislation. Draft regulations will be shared during the passage of the Immigration and Asylum Bill through Parliament.

As these elements have not yet been finalised, it would be premature to provide an estimate of the administrative cost of the scheme, future revenue, or a specific repayment amount. An estimate will be calculated once the detailed design of the scheme is finalised.