Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reimburse the Welsh government and local authorities for the costs associated with temporarily housing asylum seekers.

The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide accommodation and other support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered.

The Home Office accommodates and provides support to supported asylum seekers in contingency accommodation whilst we consider their asylum claim and we do not provide funding to either the Welsh government or local authorities with regard to this cohort of asylum seekers. Our accommodation providers have a robust delivery model in place to ensure hotel accommodation is managed well to minimise impact on the local community.

The Full Dispersal model, announced on 13 April 2022 is supported by £21million of un-ringfenced grant funding to make sure eligible local authorities can provide wraparound support locally. Local authorities will also receive £3,500 for each new dispersal accommodation bed space in the 22/23 financial year.