Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in the application of the new asylum assessment rules under the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.

This Government is committed to advancing the rights of individuals who are LGBT. The welfare and dignity of all claimants, including those who are LGBT, remains central to our decision-making processes.

One of the key objectives of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 is to increase the fairness and efficacy of our asylum system so that we can better protect and support those in genuine need of asylum. In September 2021, we published an Equality Impact Assessment for the policies being taken forward through the then Bill which included an assessment on potential impacts on people who may face persecution because of the protected characteristics of sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment.