Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the support available for asylum seekers since the removal of the six month service standards for the processing of asylum applications by her Department.

If an asylum seeker would otherwise be destitute they are provided with free accommodation and a weekly cash allowance. The standard level of the allowance is currently set at £39.63 for each person in their household. This is reduced if the individual is accommodated in a full-board facility where food and other essential items accounted for are provided in kind.

The level of the standard allowance is reviewed annually to ensure it is sufficient to cover their essential living needs, the legal test provided for in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

There are no plans to increase the level of support provided to asylum seekers.