To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the level of asylum support on the physical and mental well-being of people seeking asylum who have been waiting on a decision for more than six months.
Answered on
5 December 2017
The Home Office ensure that asylum seekers are not left destitute by providing accommodation and a weekly cash allowance. The level of the allowance is reviewed each year to ensure that it is sufficient to cover their essential living needs. The Court of Appeal has rejected a legal challenge to the methodology used to assess the adequacy of the cash allowance.
Asylum seekers also have full access to the NHS, including mental health services if they are needed.