Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have been waiting for a decision on eligibility for Section 95 support for longer than (a) three months, (b) six months (c) nine months and (d) 12 months; and how many asylum seekers in each of those categories are accommodated in Ealing Central and Acton constituency.

Asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute can apply for free accommodation and cash support to cover their essential living needs whilst their cases are considered. If they have an emergency need for accommodation they can ask to access initial accommodation under Section 98 whilst their support applications are being processed. The vast majority of such requests are processed on the same day. We aim to resolve Section 95 applications received from people in Initial Accommodation within 3 days and other applications from people staying in private accommodation within 10 days.

All cases are considered on their own merits, in some cases decisions can take longer as applicants are asked to provide further information before a decision on eligibility can reached. The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates the number of asylum seekers waiting on an eligibility decision for Section 95 support. These figures are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.