Clause 14 - Establishment of centres
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill
10:45 am
Mrs Angela Watkinson (Upminster, Conservative)
I should like to speak in support of the amendment. If we are to set up these accommodation centres they must be successful, and we must get the formula right. Only a small proportion of all those seeking asylum will be able to be placed in these centres, but 250 people is a large number to a local authority if they are to be provided with the necessary support services so that they can be dealt with quickly and decisions can be made quickly. If their appeals are successful, they can then be absorbed into the local community quickly. They can find jobs and accommodation and become full members of society. If their applications are unsuccessful, they can be removed equally quickly.
Local authorities will need to be consulted fully about all the support services, particularly in the planning process before the accommodation centres are set up. The health authorities will need to be consulted about their ability to absorb numbers of people who are likely to have quite complex health needs. There will be people who are traumatised, who are injured or who have been tortured. They will have a variety of specific health needs that may not normally be presented to every health authority. It is important to ensure that all those services are available.
The larger number of people there are in any one place, the more difficult it will be to provide those comprehensive services, especially proper legal services, which are quite unlike some of the pseudo-legal services that are on offer. Some of my constituents find months down the line that they have parted with large sums of money for pseudo-legal advice that proves useless to them. Services must be of proper quality to enable people to have their asylum claims dealt with effectively.
People should be dealt with properly in small numbers so that local and health authorities can provide the comprehensive range of services that they need. They should also be dealt with quickly, so that they are not languishing in anonymous places for a long period. If necessary, they should be moved on swiftly into proper accommodation with proper job prospects in the community.