Speeches by Norris.

“I can help the hon. Gentleman with that. The whole point on safe and legal routes is that those are not the means by which people are coming into the country. As he will have seen in the commitments we made in the asylum policy statement in November, if people choose to come via irregular means, their route to settleme…”

“My hon. Friend has doggedly pursued me on this very important issue. It is really important that, as the Home Office, we consider the broader context—such as what he says with regard to Afghan resettlement scheme provision—around a community’s ability to sustain a supported population and that full dispersal model we i…”

“The facts do not bear that out. We have a system that separates those who are travelling economically and those who are seeking protection. I do not want this country to lose its proud history of providing protection for people who need it. That is why we are doing this in the way we are doing it. We have taken signifi…”

“The backlog is one of the major sins that explains why the supported population is much larger than we would expect it to be. We have got through the backlog in initial decision making, and the pressure now is in the appeals system. That is why the King’s Speech referred to important reforms that are coming to the appe…”

“We have had success on other large sites where that has not been the case. Individuals need to register with a GP, but it is our intention that the impact on the local health service will be minimal. There is the question of emergency medicine, because there will not be provision for that on site. I appreciate that the…”

“The idea that 90% of cases are granted is for the birds—it is not even half that. It is also not true that people who are accommodated in hotels are living a luxury lifestyle. In reality, that is far from the case. These are not great places to be; they are safe, humane, dignified and legal, but that is it. I just cann…”

“I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his questions. It is not bragging to say that under the previous Government the number of folks accommodated in hotels was 56,000 at its peak and it is now at 21,000. It is important for the public to understand those changes. He talks about the record in Government. He wil…”

“I think that is slightly unfair. The hon. Gentleman knows that they will all close by 2029, but within that, none of them will be open for a day longer than they need to be. In terms of criteria, a range of factors including size, condition and location goes into the decision making. I appreciate that in a process of r…”

“I am well aware of York’s status as a city of sanctuary—[Interruption.]—or as a human rights city, forgive me. I always want to work with the people of York to ensure that asylum seekers are humanely housed. Nevertheless, the challenge today is that we have around 100,000 people in the supported population and 170 hote…”

“I am grateful for that series of questions. I gently say that there is a slight unfairness in the right hon. Gentleman’s saying that he and his community want a greater say in the details, while at the same time saying that we do not have a plan. The whole point is that rather than inviting providers or contractors to …”

“I will of course meet the hon. Lady. Immigration removal centres are, of course, an entirely separate matter from what we are talking about here. I do not have those numbers at my fingertips, but I will get them to her in short order. There is a point of difference in terms of the engagement, as I can see from the corr…”

“I am grateful for that question. I will mirror the commitment I made to the right hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) and ensure that the hon. Lady gets whatever information she needs on Stoke Heath. On how sites are chosen, there is a mix of factors, which include local amenities, travel and transport. Those a…”

“Yes, I am. That is a conversation I have had with colleagues in Glasgow. That is a conversation I have had with the Scottish Government. That is something we are very mindful of. That reflects historic decisions that meant that certain big cities across the UK were essentially stepped forward to house the entire suppor…”

“Pretty much every Monday, yes.”

“In what sense? The asylum—”

“We talk about that every week, every Monday. I look at all aspects of the system covering inflow and all the different types of outflow that I have talked about. That is key driving information, yes.”

“I do not know what my graduation of advanced is. What I am saying is it is being actively worked on. You have seen as a matter of public record some of the work that we have done, and it is advanced, but eventually, we get to our model and then we move forwards. I could not tell you; I do not have a scoring out of 10 o…”

“The Department has moved considerably in its capacity for contract management. Again, my evidence for the impact is the savings we have been able to drive out of that. My evidence for the impact of that would be the £74 million in profit sharing and service credits that have been secured through that process. That has …”

“Design an alternative to these contracts.”

“I do not think this is something you are going to be piloting your way out of, not least because the timeframe for establishment assessment would take us towards the end of that time period. We do dispersed accommodation at a significant rate. We are by far the only people who do it. In all our communities, whether it …”