Immigrants

(asked on 21st July 2020) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications have been received since the change of conditions form for recourse to public funds was digitised at the beginning of April; what proportion of those applications have been granted; and what the average processing time for those applications was.


Answered by
Kevin Foster Portrait
Kevin Foster
This question was answered on 1st September 2020

The information you have requested is not currently published by the department.

The department has written to the UKSA with regard to this matter. Please see the link below: https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/correspondence/response-from-daniel-shaw-to-ed-humpherson-parliamentary-question-response/

We are continuing to investigate whether the administrative data held by the department can provide any meaningful data in future.

While we appreciate the need for Change of Conditions applications to be dealt with quickly, there is no need for all applications to be processed within 24 hours. Individuals are not necessarily destitute when they make an application, but instead may recognise they are at risk of destitution in the near future because there has been a recent change in their financial circumstances, for example.

Cases must be assessed based on the evidence the applicant has provided, and where there is insufficient evidence, caseworkers request further information which inevitably extends the processing time but can ensure the appropriate decision is reached.

During the covid-19 crisis the application form has been digitised, and we are encouraging applicants to send in their evidence by email so that it can be received and uploaded onto cases more quickly. Where applicants are unable to provide certain evidence, particularly under the current circumstances, we have provided staff with instructions as to how and when flexibility can be exercised to help reduce unnecessary delays that would be introduced by having to seek additional evidence.

The Change of Conditions team are working through applications as quickly as they can, and UKVI have trained additional staff to work on these cases in response to the increased demand and urgency during the current situation.

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