Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons asylum support rates are lower in 2020 than they were in 2002; and if she will make a statement.

Asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute are provided with free accommodation (with utility bills and council tax paid) and a weekly cash allowance to meet their other essential living needs (the legal test).

The current level of the allowance is £37.75 per week for each person in the asylum seeker’s household and is assessed using a methodology adopted in 2014. The methodology has been recognised by the Court of Appeal as rational and lawful. Details of how it works are set out in the reports published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-on-review-of-cash-allowance-paid-to-asylum-seekers

The allowances provided in 2002 were generally linked to mainstream benefits provided by the Department of Work and Pensions. The amount provided depended on a variety of factors, including the age of the asylum seeker. Those asylum seekers aged over 25 received a higher rate (£37.77) than those aged between 18-24 (£29.88). From 2009, however, all new asylum seekers were placed on the lower rate previously only applicable to those aged under 25.

The current asylum support allowances are not linked in any way to mainstream benefit levels.