Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Covid-19: Support for Asylum Seekers

Monday 13 July 2020 · 1 question

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Marion Fellows raised concerns about the lack of proper monitoring and sanctions for safeguarding vulnerable asylum seekers in contracts.
  • The Minister stated that the government monitors contractors' operations and investigates concerns seriously.
  • In the Glasgow case, vulnerability assessments were conducted before any moves were made, and 109 individuals were not moved as a result.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Marion Fellows SNP Motherwell and Wishaw
Asylum & Refugees
Context

The National Audit Office report disclosed that the contract fails to provide proper monitoring or sanctions for breaches in safeguarding vulnerable individuals.

Question

The requirements in the asylum accommodation contracts to safeguard vulnerable people are vital, yet the recent National Audit Office report discloses that the contract fails to provide for proper monitoring of them or sanctions for breaches. Will the Minister fix that? Will he explain why no safeguarding framework is in place yet, despite this contract being worth billions of pounds of public money?

Answer from Chris Philp (Minister of State for Immigration)

We are studying the report carefully. We do monitor the contractors' operations, investigate concerns seriously, and in the Glasgow case, vulnerability assessments were undertaken before people were moved; 109 individuals were not moved as a result.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not address the specific issues of monitoring and sanctions for breaches highlighted by NAO.

How: Redirecting To General Positive Points About Asylum Support

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