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National Audit Office Press Notice

Asylum and migration: a review of Home Office statistics

THIS STATEMENT IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST BEFORE
10.00 HOURS ON TUESDAY 25 MAY 2004

Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General
HC 625 2003-2004
25 May 2004
ISBN: 0102928231
Price: £10.75

Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today the results of his independent review of the Home Office’s quarterly asylum statistics published alongside this report. This work was carried out by the NAO in response to an invitation from the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office in April 2004 to:

The National Audit Office found that:

The asylum data and statistics are in most respects reliable, including the Home Office reporting that the number of asylum applications halved between October 2002 and September 2003.

There are however several weaknesses in the process of compiling the statistics and in their presentation, some of which impact on other items in the published statistics.

The Home Office applies the ONS Code of Practice and Protocols well in some areas, but there is scope for the Home Office to consult users more, present the statistics more clearly and improve their coverage. The Home Office has appropriate practices in place to ensure the integrity of its asylum statistics in line with established protocols.

There is no clear statistical evidence that the reduction in the number of asylum applications has had any significant impact on other forms of migration.

Reasons for migration are extremely complex and a change in numbers for any route of entry may reflect the operation of a broad range of factors. Often, these factors work independently of one another and reflect decisions taken by a myriad of people and organisations, including migrants themselves, governments and other organisations, in response to changing circumstances.

Reductions in the number of asylum applications can be explained, in part, by measures taken by the government to manage down the intake of asylum seekers, alongside other wider trends. The UK remains a very attractive destination for some people from overseas. In the time available, the statistical analyses in this Report focused on changes in the number of people entering the UK through individual routes of entry. Further research might be usefully carried out to compare asylum flows with the combined statistics for all routes of entry and by nationality. This would allow a broader picture to be obtained of any relationships that exist between asylum and other forms of migration, rather than one based only on individual routes.


Notes for Editors

  1. The Home Office today published its quarterly statistics on asylum, available at www.homeoffice.gov.uk
  2. The Office for National Statistics' Code of Practice and the associated Protocols can be found at www.statistics.gov.uk/about/national_statistics/cop/default.asp
  3. Press notices and reports are available from the date of publication on the NAO website,
    which is now at www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be obtained from The Stationery Office
    on 0845 702 3474.
  4. The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the head of the National Audit Office which employs some 800 staff. He and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which departments and other bodies have used their resources.

Press Notice 42/04
All enquiries to Bill Schaper, NAO Press Office:
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