UK immigration policy: FOI release

Information requested

1. Which benefits illegal immigrants receive (with reference to a virtual poster circulated online indicating GB News as the source for a list of benefits people seeking asylum have received)?

2. How many illegal immigrants are being housed in Scotland?

3. The annual cost of supporting illegal immigrants?

Response

It may be helpful to explain that under current constitutional arrangements in the United Kingdom (UK), asylum and immigration are reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes the provision of asylum accommodation and support to people seeking asylum who would otherwise be destitute while waiting for a decision on their asylum application. It also includes decisions relating to UK immigration policy, including the application of No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) conditions and other restrictions or conditions applied to people seeking asylum, visa holders and anyone who requires permission to enter or remain in the UK but does not have it. 

As the news article you have referred to uses the term ‘asylum seekers’ I have handled your request in terms of what support people seeking asylum can access. I will therefore use the term people seeking asylum throughout this response. People who have not made an asylum application and have entered the UK irregularly would be undocumented and would be subject to immigration control, under reserved immigration legislation and rules they would subject to NRPF. I have also interpreted the use of the word ‘benefits’ to be referring to predominantly welfare benefits.

In the UK, the term person seeking asylum, or asylum seeker, refers to someone who has lodged an application for international protection under the United Nations (UN) 1951 Refugee Convention or Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and is waiting for a decision from the UK Government. An asylum application is therefore a process to determine whether someone is recognised as a refugee.

Asylum is the process by which someone applies to the UK Government to have their refugee status recognised.

1. Which benefits illegal immigrants receive (with reference to a virtual poster circulated online indicating GB News as the source for a list of benefits people seeking asylum have received)?

Regarding your first question on the benefits that people seeking asylum receive, with reference to a list which appears to have been compiled by GB News, we are unable to confirm where GB news have sourced the information shown in the attached picture. This is a section 17(1) notice that the Scottish Government does not hold some of the information you have requested because we do not hold information about all potential sources of support which people seeking asylum may be able to access, for example charitable organisations may run activities, or provide donated goods to people. The Scottish Government also holds no information regarding provision of Home Office clothing packs.

Some of the information you have requested in relation to UK asylum support is available online. The UK Government has statutory duties to provide asylum accommodation and/or support to people seeking asylum if they would otherwise be destitute, this is set out under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. According to published UK Government guidance on the allocation of asylum accommodation policy, “the overriding principle when allocating accommodation is that it is offered on a ‘no choice basis’.” This also includes policy on room sharing of single adults without dependent children. The allocation guidance is available on the UK Government website: Allocation of asylum accommodation policy (accessible) - GOV.UK

The UK Government website also contains information about current asylum support rates and eligibility: Asylum support: What you'll get - GOV.UK.

You may want to note that this makes clear that people seeking asylum may be provided with £49.18 per person but this is only if they are not living in accommodation which provides meals. If meals are provided then the asylum support provided is £9.95. The GB News list refers to the £49.18 rate only and also states that meals are provided but this is not the case according to the UK Government website.

People seeking asylum are subject to No Recourse to Public Funds, this restricts access to most mainstream benefits, including to housing and homelessness services. Public Funds which are restricted under NRPF are set out under paragraph 6 of the Immigration Rules and include Universal Credit, council tax reductions, payments made under the Welfare Funds (Scotland) Act 2015 – i.e. the Scottish Welfare Fund, carer support payments, and many other specific public funds. The Immigration Rules are published on the UK Government website: Immigration Rules - Immigration Rules: introduction - Guidance - GOV.UK

2. How many illegal immigrants are being housed in Scotland?

For your second question regarding the number of illegal immigrants being housed in Scotland, we do not hold any information on illegal immigrants accessing housing in Scotland. As explained above, people who require permission to enter or remain in the UK are restricted from accessing local authority housing or homeless services. This is a section 17(1) notice that the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested.

People seeking asylum are not illegal immigrants, they have made an application to the UK Government to be recognised as a refugee. The UK Government website regularly publishes information regarding the number of people seeking asylum accommodated by the Home Office, including the number of people in Scotland. The UK Government publishes these figures quarterly and you can view a breakdown of the number of people accommodated in Scotland, as well as the number being accommodated in other UK regions, here: Regional and local authority data on immigration groups - GOV.UK. You can also view further immigration data published by the UK Government here: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK

3.The annual cost of supporting illegal immigrants?

For your third question regarding the annual cost of supporting illegal immigrants, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because we do not hold any information regarding the cost of illegal immigrants. As asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament, any costs associated with asylum accommodation and support would be a matter for the Home Office.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

As asylum and immigration are reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office, you may wish to contact the Home Office at foirequests@homeoffice.gov.uk to find out whether there is any information which they would be able to provide in relation to your request. You can also find further information which has already been published under previous information requests, as part of statistical releases, or otherwise made available on the UK Government website, including quarterly immigration system statistics data tables: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-systemstatistics-data-tables.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.