Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many gas safety certificates were verified by her Department's contractors for dispersed accommodation in (a) England, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham in each year since 2015.

The Home Office does not hold the information requested. The Home Office expects the highest standards from accommodation providers. A detailed breakdown of all of the services to be undertaken by accommodation providers and the standards we expect can be found in the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC) Statement of Requirements: AASC_-_Schedule_2_-_Statement_of_Requirements.pdf

All Accommodation must comply with the relevant standards for Accommodation defined in Annex B, and the rules relating to sharing and relocations defined in Annex C of this Schedule 2.

The AASC contracts include robust mechanisms for incentivising the provider to deliver on the contractual requirements set out therein. The Home Office also employs a dedicated contract assurance team whose conduct property inspections and assurance reviews.