Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what procedures are in place to ensure that Home Office decision-making on asylum cases is not unduly influenced by its target of dealing with 90 per cent of asylum applications within six months.

The service standard that 98% of straight forward asylum cases have an initial decision within 6 months of their date of claim is allowing a more strategic management of the casework process and a clearer level of customer service expectation.

Asylum Operations has clear internal guidance on what factors can lead to a case being classed as non straight forward and such cases are proactively managed to ensure barriers are cleared and decisions are made as soon as possible.