Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the support services provided by SERCO to asylum seekers housed in hotels; and if she will make a statement.

We expect the highest standards from our contractors and monitor them closely to ensure these are met. The standards of accommodation and service are set out within the Asylum Accommodation & Support Contracts (AASC). Details of the AASC can be found at: New asylum accommodation contracts awarded - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).

The introduction of the AIRE (Advice, Issue Reporting & Eligibility) service has provided more independent and transparent oversight of standards through clearer complaints mechanisms for service users and supporting data that allows more intelligent targeting of performance improvement. All asylum seekers have access to the Advice, Issue Reporting & Eligibility (AIRE) service provided by Migrant Help, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through which they can raise any concerns regarding their asylum support accommodation or support services.