Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to clause 23(5) of the Immigration and Asylum Bill, whether her Department intends to carry out individual destitution tests on all refugees or whether a minimum income threshold will be set.

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.

The detailed design of the scheme, including repayment thresholds and rates, will be set out in secondary legislation.

The policy intent is that repayment will only begin once an individual reaches a defined threshold for repayment and that deductions will be set at a manageable rate so that recovery remains proportionate and does not cause hardship or destitution.

Any regulations will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny and there will be clear safeguards to ensure the scheme operates fairly.

Draft regulations will be shared during the passage of the Immigration and Asylum Bill through Parliament.