Asylum: North West
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the North West region being the region with the highest number of asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support by Local Authority.
Answered by Home Office
The Government is committed to the Full Dispersal Model, under which all local authority areas are expected to participate in the asylum accommodation system.
The purpose of full dispersal is to ensure that responsibility for supporting asylum seekers is shared more equitably across the United Kingdom and that no individual local authority or region bears a disproportionate share of the burden. The level of accommodation sought in each area is informed by the Asylum Accommodation Plans, which are underpinned by an evidence-based indexing model that takes account of local pressures and housing availability.
The distribution of asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support reflects a range of operational and market factors, including the availability of suitable accommodation, the historic participation of local authorities in the dispersal system, and the ability of accommodation providers to procure properties in particular areas.
The North West has participated in asylum dispersal arrangements for many years and has historically accommodated a significant proportion of supported asylum seekers. This reflects the availability of dispersed accommodation and the established presence of accommodation providers operating in the region.
The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area, including those in dispersal properties. These statistics can be found at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.
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