Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made in directing local authorities, which have previously not been involved, to participate in asylum dispersal.

Since the Full Dispersal Scheme was announced in April 2022 we have begun procuring asylum accommodation in cooperation with local authorities (LAs). We have seen an increase in dispersed accommodation capacity, with new areas now engaged. We are committed to working collaboratively with local authorities to implement the full dispersal model and an informal consultation with partners to shape the redesign of the asylum dispersal system closed on 1 July.

As part of the informal consultation, we developed regional plans incorporating contributions from LAs across the UK and to support implementation of a reformed asylum dispersal model which is fair, sustainable, innovative and responsive to changing demands and needs over the long term. We have taken on board the representations made during the informal consultation period and are building the feedback into our plans for regional allocations. We will communicate these to Local Authority partners as soon as we can.