Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made a comparative assessment of the potential merits of housing asylum seekers in (a) dispersal and (b) contingency accommodation; and if she make will make a statement.

Contingency Accommodation is accommodation that the Home Office has to use in order to continue to meet our statutory obligations. It is not a long-term solution to housing destitute asylum seekers and the Home Office is committed to moving away from contingency accommodation to more suitable forms of accommodation, including Dispersed Accommodation.

From 13 April 2022, all local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales are considered a dispersal area and will need to take part in asylum dispersal. This is to ensure a fair and equitable accommodation spread of asylum seekers across the UK. We have agreed targets for every local authority and region in the UK to deliver by the end of 2023.

Currently Arfon does not have any dispersal accommodation. If you would like to put forward specific proposals, please do contact the Home Office at: rasiengagementhubregionalconsultation@homeoffice.gov.uk and officials will happily discuss this in greater detail with you.