Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of (a) the adequacy of Section 95 support for those awaiting an asylum decision and (b) the potential merits of restoring the right to work for applicants who have waited for six months or more for a decision on an asylum claim.

Asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute are provided with free accommodation and a cash allowance to cover their other essential living needs. The level of the allowance, currently set at £37.75 per week for each person in the household, is reviewed regularly to ensure that it is adequate, taking account of various sources of information, including Office of National Statistics (ONS) data about spending by low income groups on food and other essential items. Fresh ONS data is expected to be published in the next few months and the allowances will be reviewed again at that point.

Asylum seekers can work in jobs on the Shortage Occupation List if their claim has been outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own.