Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25th May 2022 to Question 5436 on Asylum: Rwanda, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of cuts to legal aid for asylum applications on the ability of people to adequately make representations where they feel deportation to Rwanda would be detrimental to their physical or mental wellbeing.
Decisions on whether to relocate individuals to Rwanda are made on a case-by-case basis depending on the individual circumstances at the time, and in accordance with the inadmissibility guidance available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inadmissibility-third-country-cases.
Everyone considered for relocation will be screened and have access to legal advice, and nobody will be removed if it is unsafe or inappropriate for them.
No changes have been made to legal aid for asylum applications or appeals. Legal aid has been, and will always be, available in asylum cases.
The Government is investing over £8m in legal aid through the Nationality and Borders Act, where legal aid will be available for potential victims of modern slavery and where individuals have been served with a priority removal notice.