1. Parliamentary inquiry issues report
2. House of Lords PQ on asylum support, 24 January 2012
3. RCGP Position Statement
4. ECRE/AIDA project
1. Parliamentary inquiry issues report
The cross-party parliamentary inquiry into asylum support for children and young people chaired by Sarah Teather MP launched its report on 30 January. The report (attached as a file) included recommendations that the Government:
• Align asylum support for all children with mainstream benefits
• Abolish Section 4 support immediately
• Allow parents to work so they can provide for their families and prevent them from being pushed into destitution.
For the full report, executive summary and all written/oral evidence, see:
The Children’s Society has also launched a campaign action to email your MP: http://action.childrenssociety.org.uk/page/speakout/asylum-support
For more information or if you have any questions, please contact policy@childrenssociety.org.uk.
2. House of Lords PQ on asylum support, 24 January 2012
In response to a question from the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds asking about whether there will be an increase in Sections 4 and Section 95 support for 2013, the Government stated that “there is no statutory obligation to carry out an annual review of asylum support rates and it would be wrong to raise expectations in this area given the current constraints on funding.” The full details of the PQ are attached as a file.
3. RCGP Position Statement
The Royal College of GPs released a statement in January to try and address misunderstanding at a local level around who is eligible to register with a GP. It stated that “Based on the principle that General Practitioners have a duty of care to all people seeking healthcare, the Royal College of General Practitioners believes that General Practitioners should not be expected to police access to healthcare and turn people away when they are at their most vulnerable. Further, it is important to protect individual and public health. All vulnerable migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, have the right to be fully registered with a NHS general practice.” It also noted that GPs “have the discretion to register refused asylum seekers, to the same extent that they have this discretion to registering any patient, irrespective of residency status – unless the list is full or the person resides outside the practice boundary.” For the full statement go to:http://www.rcgp.org.uk/policy/rcgp-policy-areas/asylum-seekers-and-vulnerable-migrants.aspx
4. ECRE/AIDA project
Asylum Aid is the UK partner in an ECRE project to compile an online database with country reports on asylum systems in 14 Member States (see attached project description). This involves completing a lengthy questionnaire on various aspects of the asylum system (regular procedure, accelerated procedures, appeals, legal assistance, treatment of children etc). Gina Clayton has been employed as a consultant for this project and is in the process of completing a first draft response to the questionnaire.
Asylum Aid hope to consult as widely as possible with the sector including though sending targeted questions to those with particular thematic expertise (e.g. on reception or detention). Later in February we will share a revised version of the questionnaire response for wider and more general comments (checking of accuracy etc). This is to ensure that the final national report on the UK is as accurate as possible.The final questionnaire response must be submitted by 15 March 2013. Asylum Aid would greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide. For further information please contact Chris Nash, International Protection Policy Coordinator at Asylum Aid at chrisn@asylumaid.org.uk or on 0207 354 9631 (Ext: 221)