STORY
Ministers have unveiled plans for a new independent body to hear asylum appeals, promising faster decisions, priority treatment for cases in asylum accommodation and statutory 24-week deadlines for certain appeals. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, says the shake-up is designed to clear a mounting appeals backlog, accelerate returns and reduce reliance on hotels. Cooper said:
“We inherited an asylum system in complete chaos with a soaring backlog of asylum cases and a broken appeals system with thousands of people in the system for years on end. That is why we are taking practical steps to fix the foundations and restore control and order to the system. We are determined to substantially reduce the number of people in the asylum system as part of our plan to end asylum hotels. Already since the election we have reduced the backlog of people waiting for initial decisions by 24% and increased failed asylum returns by 30%. But we cannot carry on with these completely unacceptable delays in appeals as a result of the system we have inherited which mean that failed asylum seekers stay in the system for years on end at huge cost to the taxpayer. Overhauling the appeals system so that it is swift, fair and independent, with high standards in place, is a central part of our Plan for Change.”
The body would be separate from government and staffed by professionally trained adjudicators, with powers to “surge” capacity and to prioritise appeals from foreign national offenders and those receiving accommodation support. Officials say the First-tier Tribunal is struggling to keep pace despite extra sitting days, prompting the shift to a model used in some European countries where independent appeals bodies handle asylum cases.
Alongside the new body, ministers intend to place a legal requirement on the First-tier Tribunal to determine specified asylum appeals within 24 weeks. Further plans to fast-track ‘safe country’ cases will be set out in the autumn. According to the government, 106,000 cases are currently waiting to be heard at the First-tier Tribunal, including at least 51,000 asylum appeals, with average waits of around 53 weeks. While initial decision-making has sped up, cutting the number waiting for a first decision by about a quarter over the past year, officials say court delays over appeals are now the biggest driver of pressure in the accommodation system.