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Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Answer

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the payments and grants made by predecessor departments to each local authority in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland to reimburse the costs of supporting asylum seekers in each year from 1996-97 until the transfer of responsibility to the Home Office. [217783] Mr. Raynsford: Immediately before 1 April 1999 the budget for support of asylum seekers was split between the then Department of Social Security (DSS) and the Department of Health (DoH). DSS were responsible for supporting applicants who made their application at a port of entry until such time as an initial decision was recorded on the claim for asylum. DoH picked up the costs of supporting those claiming asylum after entry and also all appellants (including those who made their original application on arrival). The budget for adult and family asylum seekers transferred to the Home Office on 1 April 1999. The budget for unaccompanied asylum seeking children transferred to the Home Office on 1 April 2000 For information on the costs the Government in relation to asylum seekers prior to 1999-2000, I refer the hon. Member to a response given by the then Home Secretary on 9 May 2000, Official Report, column 331W. The figures contained in the answer are global, and cover the entire of the UK. They cannot be broken down further into areas.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

432 c1136W; 217783

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Asylum Finance Northern Ireland Local government finance Scotland Wales

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk