Clause 38 - Conditions of support
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill
12:00 pm
Ms Angela Eagle (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Wallasey, Labour)
After the induction at the beginning of the process, asylum seekers will be in no doubt about how the system works and what is expected of them. It will be important to make those points clear at the beginning to everyone who goes through the process. If they behave in a certain way or do not co-operate in a minor way, that will be considered by people in the reporting centre, who will decide whether there should be any consequences. They will be either immigration or casework officers.
If individuals believe that an incident has been taken out of proportion, they will be able to query that, which will ensure that they are given a fair hearing. They will need to contact the reporting centre, and NASS will make any final decision to end the support, which is what happens now. I imagine that support will be ended only in the most drastic circumstances when people are completely failing to comply with conditions of support. We hope that the clause will create a more married system, so that it will be a requirement on individuals and in their interests to keep in regular touch with NASS.
Individuals will have a right of appeal to the asylum support adjudicator if they disagree with a final decision. I hope that the system will work supportively, as we intend the contact to support the asylum seeker as well as the system itself. It will enable face-to-face contact, an update on what is happening with the claim and a range of activities to take place as a matter of course, which is not the case at the moment.