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1313826

	registered interest
	date	12/05/2021
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Asylum: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of matching the £20 universal credit uplift for people seeking the asylum support allowance.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	883
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2021 answer text <p>Asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute are provided with furnished accommodation with utilities provided free of charge and a weekly cash allowance. The level of the allowance is reviewed each year to ensure it remains sufficient to meet their essential living needs (the legal test). Currently, the standard allowance is £39.63 per week for the asylum seeker and each of any dependants in their household. The allowance is reduced if the individual is accommodated in a full-board facility where food and other essential items are provided free.</p><p>There are no plans to provide an additional £20 or to link the level of the allowance with the level of Universal Credit. Those receiving Universal Credit generally incur expenses asylum seekers are not required to meet, including paying for utilities and travel and other expenses incurred in looking for work.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 17/05/2021 16:36:43 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1317105

	registered interest
	date	21/05/2021
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Asylum: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2021 to Question 725 on asylum: housing, how the budget for weekly support payment for an asylum seeker is calculated; and how much is expected to be allocated to (a) food, (b) transport, (c) clothing and (d) cleaning products.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
	uin	5193
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/05/2021 answer text <p>The level of the cash allowance provided to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute in order to meet their essential living needs (the legal test) is reviewed annually, using a methodology in place since 2014 and which has been judged by the Court of Appeal to be rational and lawful.</p><p>The basic approach is to determine all essential needs and assess the amount of money the average asylum seeker needs to meet each of them. Those with needs over and above the level of the average person can apply for additional funds exceptionally.</p><p>Further detail about the methodology can be found in the reports published at:</p><p><a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-on-review-of-cash-allowance-paid-to-asylum-seekers" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-on-review-of-cash-allowance-paid-to-asylum-seekers</a></p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 26/05/2021 11:27:45 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
	tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1329679

	registered interest
	date	04/06/2021
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Asylum: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) effectiveness of the operation of ASPEN cards; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	10514
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2021 answer text <p>The PrePaid Financial Services (PFS) solution is a well-established Mastercard pre-paid card used by organisations across the UK as well as abroad and has undergone over 5 months of rigorous testing to integrate with Home Office systems.</p><p>Service users were notified of the transition in advance and a significant majority of service users have received their Aspen card and successfully activated them.</p><p>The service is functioning as expected. The cards are working, withdrawals and purchases are being made and the automated IVR activation line is operating well.</p><p>Transitions of this nature are complex, and plans to mitigate anticipated issues were, and remain, in place. Cash payments were made available in emergencies. We will continue to work with the remainder of service users to activate their cards and ensure they are supported throughout.</p><p>Our main focus is to ensure all remaining service users have an activated card so the new service can be accessed and support payments received. As part of our management of service contracts continuous improvement assessments will be factored in throughout the contract term and implemented accordingly.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 14/06/2021 15:51:31 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1329979

	registered interest
	date	07/06/2021
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Asylum: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to compensate people who had no access to asylum support payments during the recent Aspen card transition; and what steps she is taking to ensure people do not temporarily lose access to asylum support payments in the future.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Riverside
	tabling member printed	Kim Johnson
	uin	11698
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2021 answer text <p>A significant majority of service users have received their new Aspen card and they have successfully activated and started using the card.</p><p>Those who have experienced issues have been supported via the provision of emergency cash payments until their issue has been resolved. Due to this, there has always been some form of access to asylum support payments for the user population (even without an ASPEN card).</p><p>The provision of emergency cash payment has been in place for some time and will continue to be in place where emergency access to asylum support is required.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 15/06/2021 16:02:46 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
	tabling member	4824 label Biography information for Kim Johnson

1330128

	registered interest
	date	07/06/2021
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Asylum: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will undertake an urgent and full review of the ASPEN card contract transition; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	11552
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2021 answer text <p>The PrePaid Financial Services (PFS) solution is a well-established Mastercard pre-paid card which is used by organisations across the UK as well as abroad and has undergone over 5 months of rigorous testing to integrate with Home Office systems. A significant majority of service users have received their new Aspen card, have successfully activated it and are using it.</p><p>The relevant Home Office teams continue to proactively work with all appropriate delivery partners to provide resolutions for any issues faced since the new service went live on Monday 24<sup>th</sup> May 2021.</p><p>Cash payments were made available in emergencies. This was in place to happen well before the transition took place.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 10/06/2021 16:25:36 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1330130

	registered interest
	date	07/06/2021
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Asylum: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many calls the Migrant Help service received about Aspen cards on each day from 21 May and 4 June 2021.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	11554
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2021 answer text <p>We have been working with Migrant Help to reduce call volumes and monitor waiting times, which included increases of resources prior to and after the card service change.</p><p>Whilst we saw a significant increase in call volumes over the period 21<sup>st</sup> May until 4<sup>th</sup> June we are not able to categorise the nature of the calls at this point.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 10/06/2021 16:29:57 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1331211

	registered interest
	date	09/06/2021
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Asylum: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to ensure that any asylum seekers who have been adversely affected in the ongoing Aspen payment card transition will (a) have all back-payments due from 24 May 2021 automatically paid in full and (b) not suffer over-payment claw-backs of emergency payments given as a consequence of the payment card transition.
	tabling member constituency	Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
	tabling member printed	Stuart C McDonald
	uin	13088
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2021 answer text <p>Weekly payments are continuously accruing on Aspen cards for eligible asylum seekers, even if they have not yet received or activated their new card. Once successfully activated, service users can access their accrued funds, therefore no back-payments will be required.</p><p>The vast majority of cards have been activated and payments were available for those without ASPEN access.</p><p>The position on emergency cash payments and reconciliation of balances will be reviewed in due course.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 14/06/2021 16:59:32 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
	tabling member	4393 label Biography information for Stuart C McDonald

1347738

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2021
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Asylum: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people who were entitled to receive asylum support that did not have a functioning Aspen card in each week since the Aspen card transition.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	34481
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2021 answer text <p>Our systems do not allow us to provide the data requested. However, we can confirm fully functioning Aspen cards, including translated instructions on how to activate them, were distributed to all service users via first class post prior to the transition date of 24 May. The vast majority of service users who held a previous Sodexo Aspen card on 24<sup>th</sup> May - the date the new service went live - have now activated their new PFS Aspen card.</p><p>Those who have issues or are unsure how they can activate their cards are able to contact the 24/7 Migrant Help helpline. Where service users do not have active cards, Emergency Cash Payments (ECP) are being requested (accommodation providers can facilitate these) to ensure service user’s critical needs are met.</p><p>Our latest available management information proposes the following approximations for the activation of cards amongst those who previously held a Sodexo card prior to 24 May:</p><ul><li>As of 28/05 – approximately 73% of service users has activated their card</li><li>As of 04/06 – this figure rose to approximately 83%</li><li>As of 22/06 –over 93% of service users had activated their new Aspen card</li><li>As of 09/07 – over 95% had activated their card</li></ul><p><em>[These figures have been taken from a live operational database and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard].</em></p><p>We continue to work with strategic delivery partners to ensure all cards are successfully received and activated with the appropriate service users being targeted for assistance.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 21/07/2021 16:29:12 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1352618

	registered interest
	date	03/09/2021
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Asylum: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, under what circumstances and asylum support provision persons issued with a Notice of Intent are being supported.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North East
	tabling member printed	Anne McLaughlin
	uin	41947
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2021 answer text <p>An asylum seeker who receives a “notice of intent” stating their asylum claim may be treated as inadmissible, is eligible to receive support under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 if they would otherwise be destitute.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 09/09/2021 13:09:39 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
	tabling member	4437 label Biography information for Anne McLaughlin

1399195

	registered interest
	date	04/01/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Asylum: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the ONS’s most recent data on consumer price inflation, published 15 December 2021, when her Department plans to review the rates of cash allowance for asylum seekers in response to the increased rate of inflation; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
	tabling member printed	Stuart C McDonald
	uin	96895
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/01/2022 answer text <p>The Government has been reviewing the level of cash support provided to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute and expects to announce the outcome of the review shortly.</p><p>The review will take account of current levels of inflation.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 10/01/2022 12:32:20 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
	tabling member	4393 label Biography information for Stuart C McDonald