Written questions by Simmonds.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2025 to Question 40190, on Asylum: Hotels, if she will publish each letter sent to each local authority chief executive since 4 July 2024.

The Home Office does not routinely publish correspondence on operational matters.In addition, it has been the longstanding policy of the Home Office under successive governments not to comment publicly on individual hotels which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office, nor do we provide details of those we accommodate at any site.

What the average cost to the public purse is of an asylum seeker.

The Home Office’s publicly available transparency data sets out the annual costs of asylum support. The most recent data, covering the year 2023/24, can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-and-protection-data-q4-2024.

Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number of former foreign national asylum seekers granted (a) refugee status and (b) settlement claiming social housing.

My Department does not hold information on former foreign national asylum seekers claiming social housing who were formally granted refugee status and/or settlement. The Department’s social housing lettings in England statistical series includes information based on self-reported status. It can be found on gov.uk here. It shows that 2.0% of new social housing lettings in 2023/24 were to households who self-reported as refugees (4,100 households). There were 1,000 households who self-reported that they were housed by The National Asylum Support Service immediately before their new social letting (0.4% of new social lettings). Care should be taken when considering figures for new social lettings to refugees and asylum seekers. CORE data is based on specific definitions and there may be overlaps and households missing from the statistics presented above.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 43097 on Asylum: Housing, how many dwellings have been procured via Cushman and Wakefield by local authority; and what the cost of those dwellings is.

The Home Office is working closely with a range of stakeholders to fulfil its statutory obligations, while seeking to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation for the taxpayer.As part of this programme, the Home Office works with its contracted estates delivery partner, Cushman and Wakefield, to identify potential leasehold and freehold properties for the Home Office to acquire. The Home Office does not publish information on the location of asylum accommodation sites for safety and security reasons.Overall asylum expenditure is published on a routine basis in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts.

How many (a) asylum seekers and (b) refugees are housed in accommodation procured by Mears by local authority.

Under the current Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts, Serco provides accommodation in the North West and Midlands and East of England regions; Mears provides accommodation in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber; and Clearsprings Ready Homes provides accommodation in Wales, the South East, the South East and London.Data, published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release. The data can also be broken down by region and by local authority. Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (opens in a new tab).

How many (a) asylum seekers and (b) refugees are housed in accommodation procured by Serco by local authority.

Under the current Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts, Serco provides accommodation in the North West and Midlands and East of England regions; Mears provides accommodation in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber; and Clearsprings Ready Homes provides accommodation in Wales, the South East, the South East and London.Data, published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release. The data can also be broken down by region and by local authority. Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (opens in a new tab).

With reference to her Department's guidance entitled Terms of reference for VfM Study on procuring short-term residential accommodation, published on 11 March 2025, how much local authorities have spent on procuring short term residential accommodation for asylum support in 2024-25.

The provision of asylum support, including accommodation, is the responsibility of the Home Office, not of local authorities. Local authorities do not provide any funding for asylum support. The Home Office’s total expenditure on asylum accommodation in 2024-25 will be confirmed in its Annual Report and Accounts in due course.

How many (a) asylum seekers and (b) refugees are housed in accommodation procured by Clearsprings Ready Homes by local authority.

Under the current Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts, Serco provides accommodation in the North West and Midlands and East of England regions; Mears provides accommodation in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber; and Clearsprings Ready Homes provides accommodation in Wales, the South East, the South East and London.Data, published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release. The data can also be broken down by region and by local authority. Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (opens in a new tab).

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the exceptional financial support regime for local authorities.

The government is under no illusion about the fragile state of the sector and the pressures that some councils are facing to deliver for residents. We also recognise the potential for continued instability as we work to fix the foundations of local government. That is why we confirmed in the autumn that we will continue to have a framework in place to support councils in the most difficult financial positions. However, this government has been clear that we will take a different approach to supporting councils in financial difficulty, to ensure it is effective, collaborative and delivers value for money – while still protecting the interests of taxpayers. For example, we have been clear that we do not believe in punishing councils and have removed the punitive approach of making borrowing more expensive where a council seeking additional financial support has no other choice. On council tax flexibility for areas seeking exceptional financial support, we have put taxpayers at the forefront by avoiding excessively high increases and only agreeing increases where councils have comparatively low existing levels of tax and plans to protect the lowest income residents.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the cap on the amount councils can claim to meet temporary accommodation costs on local authority finances.

We continue to keep the rates used for Housing Benefit subsidy under review and are working closely with MHCLG and the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping to explore the impacts of subsidy rates on local authorities.Any future decisions on subsidy rates will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing and the current challenging financial environment at the appropriate fiscal event.We recognise the financial pressures which local authorities are experiencing. MHCLG is increasing funding for homelessness services this year by an extra £233 million compared to last year (2024/25).

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the merits of introducing a separate needs formula for homelessness.

The previous government committed to improving and updating the way in which local authorities are funded through the “fair funding review” - but this was not delivered. We will make good on this commitment and implement long-awaited reforms through a multi-year settlement in 2026-27. We invited views from the local government sector through the “local authority funding reform objectives and principles consultation”, which was open from 18 December 2024 to 12 February 2025. It sought views on the approach to local authority funding reform to be implemented via the Local Government Finance Settlement from 2026-27. We will be consulting on more detailed proposals, including our proposed relative needs formulae, following the Spending Review in June.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of reliability of the Index of Multiple Deprivation to accurately reflect levels of deprivation and need.

The English Indices for Deprivation are a designated National Statistic. They have demonstrated, through assessment, that they meet the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value, set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics by the Office for Statistics Regulation.Building on the measures in the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement, the Government is committed to introducing an improved and updated approach to funding local authorities from 2026-27.We sought views on our principles and objectives for funding reform through a consultation which ran from 18 December 2024 - 12 February 2025. This consultation and engagement will inform the development of our detailed proposals, which will follow the multi-year Spending Review concluding later this year.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to account for housing costs when measuring deprivation as part of local government funding reform.

The English Indices for Deprivation are a designated National Statistic. They have demonstrated, through assessment, that they meet the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value, set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics by the Office for Statistics Regulation.Building on the measures in the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement, the Government is committed to introducing an improved and updated approach to funding local authorities from 2026-27.We sought views on our principles and objectives for funding reform through a consultation which ran from 18 December 2024 - 12 February 2025. This consultation and engagement will inform the development of our detailed proposals, which will follow the multi-year Spending Review concluding later this year.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has had discussions with (a) London Councils and (b) individual councils in London on a joint decision-making role in integrated settlements for the Greater London Authority.

At Autumn Budget 2024 the Government committed to exploring how the Integrated Settlement policy could be applied for the Greater London Authority from the 2026-27 financial year onwards, taking into account the capital’s unique devolution arrangements. This work is currently taking place and the Government plans to announce further details following the conclusion of Phase 2 of the Spending Review 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of local authority finances in London.

The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available up to £13.35 billion for London, including the GLA. This is a £726 million increase on 2024-25, representing a 5.8% cash terms increase. The Department works closely with local government and other government departments to understand specific demand and cost pressures facing local government on an ongoing basis. This involves looking at a range of cost and demand data, as well as regular engagement with local authorities.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of welfare reforms announced in the Spring Statement 2025 on local authority finances.

No assessment has been made. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Mayor of London on the role of councils in London in integrated settlements for the Greater London Authority.

At Autumn Budget 2024 the Government committed to exploring how the Integrated Settlement policy could be applied for the Greater London Authority from the 2026-27 financial year onwards, taking into account the capital’s unique devolution arrangements. This work is currently taking place and the Government plans to announce further details following the conclusion of Phase 2 of the Spending Review 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to give local authorities in London a joint decision-making role in integrated settlements for the Greater London Authority.

At Autumn Budget 2024 the Government committed to exploring how the Integrated Settlement policy could be applied for the Greater London Authority from the 2026-27 financial year onwards, taking into account the capital’s unique devolution arrangements. This work is currently taking place and the Government plans to announce further details following the conclusion of Phase 2 of the Spending Review 2025.

What discussions she has had with local authorities on the potential impact of the costs of supporting asylum seekers on the financial sustainability of local authorities.

This Government inherited an asylum system under exceptional strain, with tens of thousands of people stuck in limbo without any prospect of having their claims processed. At their peak use under the previous government, in the autumn of 2023, more than 400 asylum hotels were being leased by the Home Office, at a cost of almost £9 million a day.Inevitably, due to the size of the backlog we inherited, the Government has been forced to continue with the use of hotels for the time being. It remains our absolute commitment to end the use of hotels over time, as part of our reduction in overall asylum accommodation costs.The Home Office continues to work closely with local authorities to manage all the pressures arising from the provision of asylum accommodation including the impact on wider local authority obligations and plans.The Home Office has delivered various grants through which we provide funds to support local authorities housing asylum seekers.Working closely with MHCLG, we are also making efficiencies in supporting the integration of newly recognised refugees to mitigate homelessness risks. This includes the sharing of cross-cohort, place-based data with partners to support better planning, and the completion of scoping exercises to understand the full costs to LAs and ensure our funding package is appropriate.

What steps she is taking to support people of Chagossian descent who arrive in the UK.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 18 March to Question 37161.