Radical reform unvielled for more robust asylum system

Home Office Press Release 29 - 10 - 01

Accommodation centres for asylum seekers combined with robust monitoring and removal procedures are at the heart of a major reform of the asylum and immigration system announced today by Home Secretary, David Blunkett.

Under the new proposals, the current system of vouchers and dispersal into local community accommodation will be phased out, with vouchers superceded by the early Autumn next year. All asylum seekers will be issued with ID smart cards to reduce fraud in the system.

A national network of induction, accommodation and removal centres will ensure swifter processing and tracking of claims, with wider action planned to offer legal work-routes for economic migrants and better, more intensive integration for refugees.

The current backlog will be tackled head-on at the appeals stage with final decisions delivered directly at centres to help guarantee removal where necessary. There will be a 50 per cent increase in the capacity of the adjudication system.

The scheme will link in with a new work permit programme to address economic migration, a guarantee to take nominated UNHCR refugees and a new approach to citizenship to be outlined in a White Paper early next year.

The Home Secretary said:

"I do not intend to tinker with the existing system but to bring about radical and fundamental reform of our asylum and immigration policy.
"I believe it will send a message to the rest of the world that the UK is not open to abuse but nor is it a fortress Britain. Implementation of my policies will take time, but in time they will work in the interests of us all."

The new system will include a three tier structure for asylum seekers:-

§ induction;
§ accommodation and reporting; and
§ fast-track removal or integration.

Induction centres will accommodate new applicants for two to ten days, enabling screening and health checks. The use of induction centres will remove the need for widespread emergency bed and breakfast accommodation being used to house asylum applicants when they arrive in this country.

Accommodation centres, subject to successful trialling, will then house the asylum seekers, offering full board, education and health facilities; thereby removing the need for vouchers. Work will start immediately on 3,000 places, with a proportion of new asylum seekers offered a place by the end of next year. Those refusing accommodation centre places will not be eligible for any further support. The centres will have open access but applicants will be required to sleep in the centres and receive their application decisions in them.

Removal Centres would house those who are about to be removed from the country. These will be expanded from the 2,800 places currently planned to 4,000 places.

Some of the key measures to be implemented include:

· Asylum seekers will be issued with new ID smart cards. The new biometric card will help combat fraud and will include photographic and fingerprint details of the asylum seeker. The new ID smart cards will be issued to all new asylum applicants from January with all asylum seekers registered in this way by the end of next year;

· Vouchers will be supercededed by early Autumn 2002 by new systems of financial support, with accommodation centres, subject to trial, making them unnecessary. In the meantime, the cash element of voucher support will be increased from £10 to £14;

· A commitment to explore taking United Nations nominated refugees directly into the UK as part of a Europe-wide agreed scheme.

· The principle of dispersal from London and the South East will remain with the National Asylum Support Service given a stronger regional structure and improved consultation with local authorities and other local agencies;

· The backlog of cases within the system will be tackled head on with streamlined appeal rights, an increase in the adjudication system throughput by 50 per cent and appeals delivered directly at accommodation and reporting centres to help guarantee removal where necessary;

· Greater focus on integration for those granted refugee status with a White Paper to examine the need for the introduction of language and education requirements for citizenship;

· Work permits as the basis for a sensible, managed economic migration policy to reduce the number of economic migrants using the asylum system; and

· A cross-departmental working group under the Chairmanship of Lord Rooker to bring forward proposals to tackle illegal employment.

David Blunkett said:

"Significant improvements have been made in recent years. In the last financial year, 132,000 decisions were made compared to 79,000 applications received.
"The current voucher and dispersal system is too slow, vulnerable to fraud and felt to be unfair by both asylum seekers and local communities. That is why I will ensure that the voucher system will be superceded by early Autumn of next year by more robust but less socially divisive alternatives."

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, said:

"Over the past year I have overhauled and expanded the appeals system, more than doubling the number of available courts, appointing extra adjudicators, and increasing the number of interpreters and legal representatives. As a result, appeals to adjudicators during the last financial year were concluded in an average of 15.4 weeks - beating our 16 week target.
"Today's announcement means that more appeals can be decided more quickly. We will be increasing the capacity of the appeals system to take 6,000 cases a month from the current 4,000 - a 50 per-cent increase. From next month the capacity will increase to 4,500 and by November 2002 to 6,000.
"Both the delivery of cases from the Home Office to the judicial system and the handling of cases within the judicial system will be speeded up.
"In addition we will streamline the right of appeal to the Immigration Appeal Tribunal, the second tier of the Immigration Appellate Authority, to points of law only."

EXPLANATORY NOTES

1. Application Registration Card

The Application Registration Card will be a 'smart card' containing a photograph and fingerprint data. This will be checkable on existing immigration and asylum fingerprint (IAF) system equipment. It will also have up-to-date security features which will improve document security and allow fast identity verification.

This card will be issued to asylum applicants instead of a standard acknowledgement letter (SAL). SALs have become ineffective due to wide scale forgery and counterfeiting.

Implementation will be phased. Phase 1 will be at Croydon and the target date for production to commence is the end of January 2002.

2. Induction Centres

A small network of Induction Centres will be located in close proximity to where most asylum applications are lodged, such as Heathrow and Croydon. This will replace the emergency use of bed and breakfast accommodation in these areas.

Once an application has been lodged, the applicant will be referred to an Induction Centre where a number of the present National Asylum Support Service (NASS) functions, as well as initial asylum processes, will be undertaken.

Here, the applicant will be able to register a claim for support and/or accommodation with NASS, and also have this claim considered and decided quickly. Any special needs and requirements may also be identified and addressed. The applicant will also be provided with in-depth briefing regarding both the NASS and asylum processes, explaining their rights and responsibilities as an asylum applicant.

Those allocated accommodation will be dispersed throughout the country, to the region which can best offer them support. This will be undertaken taking into account language clustering and individual needs.

3. Reporting Centres

The revised concept for Reporting Centres will build upon existing arrangements. It will involve a network of Reporting Centres, where applicants may be required to report throughout the asylum process, as well as improved contact and support for asylum seekers through the improved use of Outreach Workers within the regions.

These new practices will introduce more rigorous control into this important feature of the asylum process and, together with existing arrangements, will lead to improved contact with asylum seekers. The aim is to achieve stronger management of the asylum process, as well as affording asylum seekers further opportunities to monitor their cases.

The Immigration Service currently operates six dedicated Reporting Centres. There are also pilot schemes in police stations in Leicester and Newcastle.

4. Accommodation Centres

Accommodation centres for asylum seekers are widely used across Europe. On a trial basis, four new centres of about 750 beds each will be established in the UK. Work will start immediately and the centres will be opened as soon as possible. As well as full board and lodging, the centres will provide a range of services, including basic healthcare, education for children and purposeful activity for adults.

Accommodation centres will also contribute to a swift and effective asylum determination procedure by providing direct links into the Home Office casework function. On-site staff will manage cases through the system and advise applicants on the progress of their cases. There will also be access to legal advice and interpretation.

Those staying in accommodation centres will not be detained. They will, however, be subject to a residence requirement and they will not be offered alternative forms of support.

The detail of this new regime will be set out in the forthcoming White Paper. That will include clear criteria for allocating places in accommodation centres during the trial period.

5. Removal Centres

The current capacity of the detention estate is 1,900, including the 400 places at the fast-track centre in Oakington, Cambridgeshire. The opening of the new centre at Yarl's Wood, Bedfordshire in November - which has 900 places - will increase the capacity to 2,800. The Home Secretary has decided to increase this capacity by a further 40%, to 4,000 places, in order to facilitate an increased rate of removals from the UK.

The fast-track centre at Oakington will continue to process straightforward asylum claims in about 7 days. It will remain a cornerstone of the asylum system.

Those detained under immigration powers will no longer be held in prisons. That practice will stop from the end of January 2002.

6. Voucher Review

In the short-term, there will be improvements to the voucher system to provide asylum seekers with additional flexibility, making it easier for them to shop to meet their needs. Measures include:

· an increase in the total value of voucher support, in line with the most recent income support rises, which were in April for adults and this month for children. The value of vouchers will increase by around 1.6%;

· the value of the voucher which is exchangeable for cash will rise from £10 to £14; and

· a range of operational steps designed to ensure retailers operate the scheme correctly; improve communication with asylum seekers; and improve the service delivery of the National Asylum Support Service.

The first two changes will be introduced as soon as possible. Implementation of the operational measures is already underway.

Once the new smart cards are introduced, the voucher system will be superseded, by the early Autumn of 2002, by a more robust but less socially divisive scheme. Consideration is being given to the potential for automated credit transfer and other mechanisms to provide financial support for asylum seekers.

7. Dispersal Review

The key recommendations of the dispersal review are as follows:

· Induction Centres to provide a controlled and supportive gateway to asylum system - briefing for asylum seekers and better dispersal process.

· Reducing community tensions and managing the impact on local services by: reverting to policy of dispersal to language "cluster areas"; better liaison with local authorities and other local agencies; and an improved regional structure for NASS.

· Better contact with asylum seekers to ensure the right standard of accommodation and support; and to facilitate integration if granted, and removal if not.

· A series of recommendations internal to NASS for tauter management and internal efficiency savings.

8. Appeals

The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 will be revised to achieve a more streamlined one stop appeal process, in particular procedures for appealing on human rights grounds will be simplified and certification, which prevents an appeal being brought, will be extended and simplified. Appeals to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal (IAT) will be streamlined.

Measures will be taken to minimise the scope for the use of adjournments to create delay.

The capacity of the adjudication service will be increased by 50% from the current 4,000 cases a month. From November 2001, the monthly throughput of cases will increase to 4,500, and by next November to 6,000.

To ensure the current system is able to manage this increase, it will be vital to maintain a balanced system. There will therefore be a significant expansion of all the key elements in the process. Since early 2000, the appeal process has witnessed an increase from 35 to 103 courtrooms; adjudicator appointments have increased from 285 to 399 (323 part time and 76 full time); interpreters have more than doubled from 600 to 1300. The number of solicitors' firms and not-for-profit agencies with immigration contracts with the Legal Services Commission has increased to 555. Similar increases amongst these key players will occur again to manage the additional 2000 cases per month.

9. Refugee Resettlement

The potential to introduce an EU-wide resettlement programme is currently being explored by the European Commission. Separately, the Home Secretary is considering the potential to introduce such a scheme in the UK. A UK scheme would be operated bilaterally with UNHCR, and in addition to current UK asylum determination procedures.

Plans are currently at an early stage, and the size and practical operation of a resettlement programme are yet to be considered. However, the programme would provide a means of transporting in safety a number of refugees, for whom life in their region of origin was unsustainable. All resettled refugees would be recognised as such by UNHCR and UK authorities, and would be provided with immediate and permanent protection.

Resettlement schemes already operate in a number of countries, including the USA, Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.

10. Managed Migration

An essential plank of a coherent migration policy is that the UK must have legal avenues of migration for those whose skills it needs. A new scheme - the Highly Skilled Migrant Entry Programme - will allow those with exceptional skills to apply to come to the UK to seek work. Further details will be announced in November. Also, the Immigration rules will be changed to allow those graduates completing a degree from UK universities to stay on in the UK if they obtain a work permit. Discretion is already exercised in a substantial number of cases.

The Home Secretary will separately explore with employers and trade unions the case for expanding the work permit system to deal with pressures in sectors of the economy where there are skill shortages and a need for temporary workers for seasonal employment. Proposals will be developed in next year's White Paper. Alongside this work, a cross-departmental Ministerial Group - chaired by Lord Rooker, Minister of State at the Home Office - will examine ways of toughening up action across Government to tackle illegal employment and the exploitation of those who are in the UK illegally.

11. People Trafficking

People trafficking is an international problem and is being tackled on a number of fronts. The EU is to introduce measures to allow greater co-operation between member states and to ensure that people smugglers have no place to hide anywhere in the EU. Consideration is also being given to the scope for further tightening of domestic legislation.

A joint police and immigration service team to detect and disrupt criminal activities is being established. The network of Immigration Liaison Officers overseas, working with partners around the world to ensure the integrity of our borders, is being expanded.

The Prime Minister's initiative to address people trafficking through the Balkans is starting to bear fruit, as a team of experts has now begun work in Bosnia. We will continue to develop these initiatives with our EU partners in the run up to the EU Council in Laeken.

We will also target illegal working by stepping up removals of illegal immigrant workers. Forthcoming legislation will make it more difficult for traffickers to exploit their victims. However, we will continue to ensure that genuine victims of exploitation are treated with compassion. Equally, creating managed routes for legal migration will reduce the number of potential trafficking victims.

12. Improving Immigration Control

In September, the Home Secretary announced a number of new measures to further enhance immigration control in the UK. They include:

· The purchase of five mobile x/gamma ray scanners for use by the Immigration Service, to detect clandestine entrants. Additionally, co-use of scanners used by HM Customs for other purposes have been agreed. The scanners will be placed initially at Dover and Coquelles but will be rapidly extended to other points of entry.

· Introduction of CCTV for the Immigration Service at Heathrow Airport - building on work already undertaken at Gatwick - to monitor passengers as they disembark from incoming flights. This will provide, in the medium term, the potential for phasing in other imaging services which will be of value in anti-terrorist as well as immigration control measures.

· Proposal to implement the civil penalty on Eurotunnel - in line with other freight carriers.

· A new Protocol between the Immigration Service and the Police Service, to step up the removal effort of those illegal immigrants or failed asylum seekers no longer entitled to remain in Britain.

13. Family Visitor Appeals

The Immigration Appeals (Family Visitor) Regulations came into effect on 2 October 2000 and introduced the right of appeal for visitors refused entry clearance to visit family members. This fulfilled a Manifesto commitment to restore this appeal right which had been removed in 1993.

It was decided at an early stage that a fee should be charged to reflect the full cost to the Immigration Appellate Authorities (IAA) of handling appeals to adjudicators. Fees were set at £150 for a paper appeal and £500 for an oral appeal. The regulations were prayed against in both Houses.

The then Home Secretary agreed to review the fee level and in January the level was reduced to £50/£125. It was agreed that a team of officials should review the operation of the scheme to consider other issues which had been raised , such as the definition of a family visitor, and to report to Ministers.

The numbers of appeals remain well below the estimated figure. The figure was revised in December from 19,500 to 9,750. The actual number of appeals to date is 3,500.

The consultation period has been reduced to enable the timetable to be met."

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