‘Staggering’ asylum claim delays

The quarterly statistics, published last week, show an increase in the number of people waiting longer than six months for an initial decision on their asylum claim, from 89,231 in June 2022 to 139,691 in June 2023.

The Home Office was dealing with 134,046 cases—a record high. This figure, taking dependants into account, corresponded to a total of 174,457 people waiting for an initial decision on their asylum claim—a number described as ‘staggering’ by Richard Atkinson, Law Society deputy vice president.

Atkinson said: ‘These figures show the growing backlog is due to inefficiency and under resourcing of the asylum system.

‘The best way to bring down the backlog and reduce the cost to the taxpayer is to properly resource and train Home Office caseworkers to ensure sufficient and good quality decision-making.’

The statistics show 71% of applications were recognised as refugees at initial decision. Of those decisions appealed, 53% were overturned.

The figures also show the number of decisions withdrawn by the Home Office has more than doubled; a withdrawn case means the Home Office will no longer consider it and a claimant will not receive a decision, either of refugee status or a refusal. The Home Office withdrew 11,396 out of 24,000 decisions in the first six months of 2023. In comparison, there were 3,366 withdrawal decisions in the last six months of 2022.

Atkinson said: ‘The government updated its guidance to expand the circumstances in which a claim will be considered withdrawn.

‘It is not yet clear whether the increase in withdrawals is a result of the policy change and crucially, whether those affected are aware of these changes and the impact they can have on their claim being withdrawn.’

The Home Office maintains it will clear the backlog by the end of 2023, fulfilling a government commitment. The Illegal Migration Act 2023, which passed into law in July, creates a duty to remove persons arriving by an unauthorised route, regardless of any asylum claim.