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518794

	registered interest
	date	18/05/2016
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Asylum: Finance
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the percentage of short-term prisoners in receipt of satisfactory probation supervision; and how that is being assessed.
	tabling member printed	Lord Ramsbotham
	uin	HL88
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/06/2016 answer text <p>We assess the standard of supervision for all offenders, including those sentenced to under 12 months, through a range of service levels and, for Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), through a robust contract management process. Performance information for the National Probation Service and CRCs against these service levels is published quarterly. The most recent statistics were published on 28 April.</p> answering member printed Lord Faulks question first answered 02/06/2016 15:37:41 answering member 4183 label Biography information for Lord Faulks
	tabling member	3744 label Biography information for Lord Ramsbotham

1657639

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2023
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what arrangements they will put in place to ensure Aspen card holding asylum seekers can exchange a payment from their cards for any goods they require.
	tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
	uin	HL9832
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/09/2023 answer text <p>Arrangements are already in place to ensure destitute asylum seekers can buy goods that they require to meet their essential living needs. Asylum seekers who are assessed as destitute under Section 95 are provided with a weekly allowance which is loaded on to a debit card (ASPEN card). ASPEN cards can be used to pay for retail transactions at most shops displaying the Mastercard logo, up to the value of the available balance. They can also be used to check available balances at cash machines, to withdraw cash from cash machines and to get cash back when purchasing items at Mastercard participating shops. ASPEN cards cannot be used to make contactless, telephone or internet payments and the card cannot be used overseas.</p><p>Failed Asylum Seekers who are assessed as destitute under Section 4 will not be able use their card to withdraw cash from a machine or get cashback from shops.</p><p>As part of normal service, anyone experiencing issues in relation to their ASPEN payment card can report them to our Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) provider, Migrant Help, 24 hours a day on the freephone number.</p> answering member printed Lord Murray of Blidworth question first answered 18/09/2023 15:43:09 answering member 4950 label Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth
	tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

942037

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2018
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how long it takes for an asylum seeker to receive a decision on their application for section 4 support under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; if successful in their application, how soon they should receive that support; and what is the average time taken (1) to decide an application for section 4 support, and (2) for payment to be made.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL9551
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2018 answer text <p>The Home Office has a range of measures for processing asylum support applications depending on the nature of the application being made. Access to accommodation and subsistence payments is provided once suitable accommodation is sourced and eligibility confirmed. Currently information on processing times is not recorded in a format suitable for publication and there are no plans to publish such statistics at this time.</p><p>The Home Office is continuing to work with the National Asylum Stakeholder Forum to consider what further information could be made publicly available once the new IT system for asylum support casework has been fully implemented later this year.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 23/07/2018 12:47:29 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1331022

	registered interest
	date	08/06/2021
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of delays in the issuing of the Aspen payment cards to asylum seekers.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Southwark
	uin	HL893
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/06/2021 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. The service is functioning as expected for those who have activated their card. The cards are fully 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><br> 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.</p><p>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 printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 22/06/2021 16:16:12 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
	tabling member	4345 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Southwark

1330248

	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the failure to pay benefits to asylum seekers due to contractual changes to the ASPEN card payments system; and what steps they will take to ensure that this does not happen again.
	tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
	uin	HL803
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2021 answer text <p>The PrePaid Financial Services (PFS) solution is a well-established Mastercard pre-paid card that 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.</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 it. For those who have done this the service is functioning as expected. The cards are fully 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>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 printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 21/06/2021 15:51:48 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
	tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

1330247

	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how much was the weekly benefit payment received by asylum seekers in each of the last 10 years.
	tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
	uin	HL802
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2021 answer text <p>Asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute can obtain support from the Home Office. The support package usually consists of free, furnished accommodation (with utility bills and council tax paid) and a weekly cash allowance to meet other essential living needs.</p><p>The standard weekly cash allowance for a single adult asylum seeker over the past 10 years is set out in the table below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Weekly Rate</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>From 18 April 2011</p></td><td><p>£36.62</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>From 6 April 2015</p></td><td><p>£36.95</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>From 6 February 2018</p></td><td><p>£37.75</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>From 15 June 2020</p></td><td><p>£39.60</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>From 22 February 2021</p></td><td><p>£39.63</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 21/06/2021 15:59:32 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
	tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

887329

	registered interest
	date	19/04/2018
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which the increase in February of the standard allowance for asylum seekers from £36.95 a week to £37.75 a week is sufficient to meet living costs.
	tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
	uin	HL7126
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2018 answer text <p>The assessment is set out in a report published in March 2018, the report outlines the standard allowances for asylum seekers and for convienance the report is attached and can also be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-on-review-of-cash-allowance-paid-to-asylum-seekers" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-on-review-of-cash-allowance-paid-to-asylum-seekers</a>.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 02/05/2018 12:42:45 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford attachment 1 file name Report_on_review_of_cash_allowance_paid_to_asylum_seekers_-_2017_-_final.._-v1.pdf title Report on Review of cash allowance-asylum 2017
	tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

346829

	registered interest
	date	27/05/2015
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Azure card users can apply for travel assistance (1) for medical appointments, (2) for legal appointments, and (3) to reach the closest outlet that will accept the Azure card; and, if so, how such information is provided to users.
	tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
	uin	HL67
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2015 answer text <p>Failed asylum seekers are provided with support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 if they are destitute and can show that there is a temporary legal or practical obstacle that prevents them from leaving the United Kingdom voluntarily. The precise reasons why they are temporarily unable to leave vary from case to case, but examples include where they are too sick to travel and because they have been granted permission to apply for a judicial review of a decision relating to their asylum claim.</p><p>All retail outlets that accept the Azure card receive information about the rules relating to card purchases. The Home Office is aware that there are some instances where card purchases are refused, but in the great majority of cases this is simply because the person had insufficient credit on the card to purchase the items they were seeking to obtain. Reports of where the card purchase has been refused for other reasons are investigated and the matter taken up with the particular retail outlet.</p><p>Card users can apply for travel tickets to attend essential medical appointments. The cost of travel to essential appointments with legal advisers is covered through legal aid. Accommodation is provided within walking distance of shops and other services.</p><p>Information and guidance about how to apply for travel assistance is published on the GOV.UK website and it is also provided by the voluntary sector organisations that assist Azure card users, including Migrant Help, which is funded by the Home Office to provide an advice service.</p><p>Any retail outlet that provides food and other essential living items and accepts visa transactions can apply to join the Azure card scheme and talks periodically take place with new outlets that have expressed an interest in joining the scheme.</p><p>However, the card is currently accepted by Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s, the Co-operative, Iceland, Boots, Mothercare, The British Red Cross, The Salvation Army and a few small independent retailers. The Home Office is therefore satisfied that the card is an effective way of ensuing that the persons are able to purchase food and other necessary items to cover their essential living needs.</p> answering member printed Lord Bates grouped question UIN HL63 HL65 HL66 question first answered 04/06/2015 15:28:01 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
	tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

346828

	registered interest
	date	27/05/2015
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage more outlets, including local shops, to sign up to the Azure card scheme.
	tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
	uin	HL66
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2015 answer text <p>Failed asylum seekers are provided with support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 if they are destitute and can show that there is a temporary legal or practical obstacle that prevents them from leaving the United Kingdom voluntarily. The precise reasons why they are temporarily unable to leave vary from case to case, but examples include where they are too sick to travel and because they have been granted permission to apply for a judicial review of a decision relating to their asylum claim.</p><p>All retail outlets that accept the Azure card receive information about the rules relating to card purchases. The Home Office is aware that there are some instances where card purchases are refused, but in the great majority of cases this is simply because the person had insufficient credit on the card to purchase the items they were seeking to obtain. Reports of where the card purchase has been refused for other reasons are investigated and the matter taken up with the particular retail outlet.</p><p>Card users can apply for travel tickets to attend essential medical appointments. The cost of travel to essential appointments with legal advisers is covered through legal aid. Accommodation is provided within walking distance of shops and other services.</p><p>Information and guidance about how to apply for travel assistance is published on the GOV.UK website and it is also provided by the voluntary sector organisations that assist Azure card users, including Migrant Help, which is funded by the Home Office to provide an advice service.</p><p>Any retail outlet that provides food and other essential living items and accepts visa transactions can apply to join the Azure card scheme and talks periodically take place with new outlets that have expressed an interest in joining the scheme.</p><p>However, the card is currently accepted by Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s, the Co-operative, Iceland, Boots, Mothercare, The British Red Cross, The Salvation Army and a few small independent retailers. The Home Office is therefore satisfied that the card is an effective way of ensuing that the persons are able to purchase food and other necessary items to cover their essential living needs.</p> answering member printed Lord Bates grouped question UIN HL63 HL65 HL67 question first answered 04/06/2015 15:28:01 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
	tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

346827

	registered interest
	date	27/05/2015
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that shops and outlets that are part of the Azure card scheme do not refuse to serve customers using the card.
	tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
	uin	HL65
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2015 answer text <p>Failed asylum seekers are provided with support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 if they are destitute and can show that there is a temporary legal or practical obstacle that prevents them from leaving the United Kingdom voluntarily. The precise reasons why they are temporarily unable to leave vary from case to case, but examples include where they are too sick to travel and because they have been granted permission to apply for a judicial review of a decision relating to their asylum claim.</p><p>All retail outlets that accept the Azure card receive information about the rules relating to card purchases. The Home Office is aware that there are some instances where card purchases are refused, but in the great majority of cases this is simply because the person had insufficient credit on the card to purchase the items they were seeking to obtain. Reports of where the card purchase has been refused for other reasons are investigated and the matter taken up with the particular retail outlet.</p><p>Card users can apply for travel tickets to attend essential medical appointments. The cost of travel to essential appointments with legal advisers is covered through legal aid. Accommodation is provided within walking distance of shops and other services.</p><p>Information and guidance about how to apply for travel assistance is published on the GOV.UK website and it is also provided by the voluntary sector organisations that assist Azure card users, including Migrant Help, which is funded by the Home Office to provide an advice service.</p><p>Any retail outlet that provides food and other essential living items and accepts visa transactions can apply to join the Azure card scheme and talks periodically take place with new outlets that have expressed an interest in joining the scheme.</p><p>However, the card is currently accepted by Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s, the Co-operative, Iceland, Boots, Mothercare, The British Red Cross, The Salvation Army and a few small independent retailers. The Home Office is therefore satisfied that the card is an effective way of ensuing that the persons are able to purchase food and other necessary items to cover their essential living needs.</p> answering member printed Lord Bates grouped question UIN HL63 HL66 HL67 question first answered 04/06/2015 15:28:00 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
	tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno