Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why they have awarded contracts to Serco for the provision of housing to asylum seekers; and what measures they intend to put in place to ensure that the quality of the service delivered under those contracts is up to a good standard.

The Home Office awarded the new Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC) to providers following an open, fair and extensive procurement exercise.

There is a rigorous contract compliance regime in place to ensure that the required performance standards expected of all providers, as defined in the contracts, are met. Instances of non-conformance of the performance indica-tors may lead to a financial deduction from monthly invoices