PMQs: Fact-checking claims about asylum and migrants

Delays successful processing asylum claims and the outgo of providing edifice accommodation for asylum-seekers were immoderate of the issues debated astatine Prime Minister's Questions.

Labour person Keir Starmer accused the premier curate of presiding implicit a "broken" asylum system, Rishi Sunak said Labour had "no plan" connected however to woody with the thousands of migrants arriving successful the UK successful tiny boats.

We've had a look astatine immoderate of the claims.

Keir Starmer asked the premier curate however galore asylum claims from those who arrived successful the UK connected tiny boats past twelvemonth had been processed.

Mr Sunak said: "not capable is the answer", but did not springiness a figure.

Mr Starmer went connected to accidental that it was 4% of them, which is correct.

Speaking to the Home Affairs Committee past week, Home Office authoritative Dan Hobbs said astir tiny vessel arrivals successful 2021: "96% of those claims stay outstanding".

He added that of the 4% of claims which had been processed, astir 85% were fixed asylum.

The latest backlog figures for the twelvemonth to the extremity of June 2022, amusement 103,000 asylum applications awaiting a decision.

Keir Starmer said to the premier minister: "His location caput says the asylum strategy is breached - who broke it?"

Mr Sunak responded by talking astir escaped movement.

"We gave the British radical a referendum connected Brexit, we delivered Brexit, we ended the escaped question of people," helium said.

But escaped question and the asylum strategy are not the aforesaid thing.

Free question is the European Union rule that each EU nationals are allowed to unrecorded and enactment successful immoderate EU country.

On 31 December 2020, this state ended for EU citizens coming to the UK (and for UK citizens going to the EU).

The asylum strategy is acceptable of rules astir however radical fleeing persecution tin effort to get extortion successful the UK.

We've heard the £5.6m fig earlier from Home Office authoritative Abi Tierney, who appeared earlier a committee of MPs past week.

She said that the outgo of edifice accommodation for asylum seekers was £5.6m a day, though that was the fig for each asylum seekers, not conscionable for those who had arrived successful tiny boats.

It's besides not conscionable for those who arrived this twelvemonth and not each arrivals are being housed successful hotels.

Ms Tierney said that connected apical of this figure, £1.2m per time is spent connected edifice accommodation for radical brought implicit from Afghanistan, bringing the measure to a full of £6.8m a day.

The premier curate gave this fig for the summation successful unit numbers erstwhile asked what the authorities was doing astir speeding up the processing of asylum claims.

Ms Tierney told MPs past week that they had accrued the fig of asylum "decision makers" by 584 to 1,073, which is an summation of 119%, though neither she nor the premier curate gave a clip period.

In the aforesaid session, David Neal, autarkic main inspector of borders and immigration, said the fig for determination makers was 1,090, with different 139 coming online successful November.

Mr Neal's report connected asylum casework from past twelvemonth enactment the fig of determination makers successful March 2021 astatine conscionable nether 600. If that has present been accrued to 1,090 that would beryllium an summation of astir 80%.

We person asked the Home Office wherever the 80% fig came from.