Press Release - Management of Asylum Applications by the UK
Border Agency
23 January 2009
The New Asylum Model, introduced by the Home Office in 2006 to
achieve faster conclusions to asylum applications, has strengthened
aspects of the asylum process, according to a report today by the
National Audit Office. The case ownership approach, in which a
single individual manages an application from start to finish, has
created a strong incentive to conclude cases and applications are
being concluded more quickly. But the new process is not yet
working to its optimum efficiency and effectiveness.
Today's report recognises the challenge of managing the flow of
asylum applications, which is dictated by world events. The UK
Border Agency has done well to improve its handling of the
casework. Under the New Asylum Model, there was a rise in the
proportion of cases being dealt with within six months, peaking
above the target of 40 per cent in December 2007. An increase in
the number of asylum applicants during the second half of 2007 has
however been followed by some slippage in performance. There are
also signs that the quality of decision-making is improving.
The backlog of decisions to be made has however more than
doubled in over a year, to 8,700 in the second quarter of 2008. At
the point of application, the full screening interview is not
taking place in a quarter of cases, so that key information about
claims could be being missed. A possible consequence is that some
people who could be held in detention and have their cases resolved
quickly are not being detained. And some who should be excluded
from detention might in fact be detained.
Few removals of failed applicants are being achieved under the
New Asylum Model, hampered by a lack of detention space and
problems obtaining emergency travel documents. Throughout the
second half of 2007, the gap between unfounded applications and
removals increased. For the year as a whole, the Agency missed its
'tipping point' objective, which is to remove more failed asylum
applicants than the number who make new unfounded applications.
Unfounded applications exceeded removals by over 20 per cent.
A separate process has been established to clear, by 2011, the
backlog of cases that were unresolved before the introduction of
the New Asylum Model. This backlog of 'legacy cases' was estimated
at some 400,000 to 450,000 in June 2006 but, by December 2007, was
put at some 335,000 cases. The Agency has made inroads: in total,
90,000 of these cases had been concluded by July 2008. But ten
thousand cases a month would be needed to hit the 2011 target,
compared with 4,000 a month being concluded so far, so on current
plans the target looks challenging.
Tim Burr, head of the National Audit Office, said
today:
"The aim of the New Asylum Model is to strengthen the
management of asylum applications, and it has delivered some
improvements. But the system is not yet working as it should for
every case. The UK Border Agency has to be sharper in gathering all
relevant information as early as possible, translating it into good
decisions and then speedily enforcing those decisions. There is a
risk that a new backlog of unresolved cases will be created, adding
to the existing backlog of 'legacy cases'."
Notes for Editors:
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website, which is at
www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be obtained from
The Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Tim Burr, is the head of
the National Audit Office which employs some 850 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 02/09
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