Freedom of Information
Central Correspondence Team
Customer Service Operations
PO Box 3468
Sheffield
S3 8WA
Poppy James
Email:
xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xxx
Email: request-315328-
.uk
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
www.gov.uk/ukvi
FOI Reference: 38465
10 March 2016
Dear Ms James
Thank you for your enquiry of 8 February in which you requested information on
Asylum costs. Your request is being handled as a request for information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.
You requested:
I am writing to make an open government request for information under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.
As part of a consultation on asylum support, the Home Office published the report
‘Reforming Support for Failed Asylum Seekers and other Illegal Migrants’ in August
2015.
On page 3, the report references financial information relating to asylum support:
“At 31 March 2015, we were providing section 95 support to an estimated 20,400
asylum seekers whose asylum claim had yet to be finally determined, including
pending the outcome of an appeal, and who would otherwise be destitute. In 2014-
15, such support cost an estimated £100 million.
But support is also being provided to large numbers of failed asylum seekers.
Section 94(5) of the 1999 Act allows section 95 support to continue after the asylum
claim has been finally determined if the failed asylum seeker has with them a
dependent child. At 31 March 2015, an estimated 2,900 families (around 10,100
people; approximately 33 per cent of the total on section 95 support) were supported
on this basis: in 2014-15, such support cost an estimated £45 million. In addition,
section 4 of the 1999 Act provides for support for other categories of failed asylum
UK Visas and Immigration is an operational command of the Home Office
seeker and others. At 31 March 2015, around 4,900 persons were supported under
section 4 of the 1999 Act: in 2014-15, such support cost an estimated £28 million.”
I request the following information:
1. How were the financial figures used in the consultation extrapolated from Home
Office Official statistics?
2. Is information concerning the financial cost of Section 95 and Section 4 support
reported in Home Office Annual Accounts? If so, how can this information be
extrapolated?
3. What is the cost of Section 95 and Section 4 support (both subsistence and
accommodation) in the years 2010-11, 2011-12,2012-13, 2014-15?
4. What are the staff and administration costs associated with asylum support in the
years 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2014-15?
Thank you in advance for your help with this matter.
We are able to provide you with the above information as set out in the Annex below.
If you are dissatisfied with this response you may request an independent internal
review of our handling of your request by submitting a complaint within two months
to the address below, quoting reference 38465. If you ask for an internal review, it
would be helpful if you could say why you are dissatisfied with the response.
Information Access Team
Home Office
3rd Floor, Peel Building
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
e-mail
: xxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx As part of any internal review the Department's handling of your information request
will be reassessed by staff not involved in providing you with this response. If you
remain dissatisfied after this internal review, you would have a right of complaint to
the Information Commissioner as established by section 50 of the Freedom of
Information Act.
Yours sincerely
J Jones
Customer Service Operations
We value your feedback, please use the link below to access a brief
anonymous survey to help us improve our service to you:
http://www.homeofficesurveys.homeoffice.gov.uk/s/108105TAZNG
Annex
1. How were the financial figures used in the consultation extrapolated from
Home Office Official statistics?
Internal data systems were able to estimate the proportion of persons supported
under 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 at the time that were failed asylum
seekers. This number was added to number of failed asylum seekers supported
under section 4 of the 1999 Act to get the total number of failed asylum seekers
supported. The total estimated expenditure on failed asylum seekers was calculated
by using estimates of the total volume supported and the average unit of costs of
providing that support.
2. Is information concerning the financial cost of Section 95 and Section 4
support reported in Home Office Annual Accounts? If so, how can this
information be extrapolated?
The 14/15 Home Office annual accounts publishes the financial cost for total
expenditure on Asylum support and does not breakdown that expenditure into the
various Sections of the 1999 Act (such as s.95).
3. What is the cost of Section 95 and Section 4 support (both subsistence and
accommodation) in the years 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2014-15?
Expenditure for the years 2010/11 – 2014/15 are as follows.
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
S95
£
£
£
£
Accommodation 80,520,346
80,155,529
66,806,029
83,096,387
£
£
£
£
S95 Cash
50,029,415
48,142,140
59,374,347
63,132,564
Section 4
£
£
£
£
Accommodation 14,935,077
16,568,366
16,638,139
18,126,125
Section 4 Cash
£
£
£
£
Vouchers
6,554,715
6,792,122
10,826,446
9,310,122
4. What are the staff and administration costs associated with asylum support
in the years 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2014-15?
Staff and administration costs for the years 2013/14 to 2014/15 are as follows. For
the years 2011/12 to 2012/13 this information was not reported at this level of detail.
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
£
£
Staff payroll
N/A
N/A 45,220,092
48,176,279
Administration / Non
£
£
N/A
N/A
pay
10,931,603
11,736,334
