{"id":12,"date":"2025-05-03T11:57:55","date_gmt":"2025-05-03T10:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/?p=12"},"modified":"2025-09-14T07:53:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T06:53:09","slug":"the-asylum-claims-backlog-and-prospects-for-clearing-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/the-asylum-claims-backlog-and-prospects-for-clearing-it\/","title":{"rendered":"The asylum claims backlog and prospects for clearing it"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-table-of-content-wrap{padding-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);background-color:#e7e7dd;border-top:1px solid #d0d0d0;border-right:1px solid #d0d0d0;border-bottom:1px solid #d0d0d0;border-left:1px solid #d0d0d0;border-top-left-radius:0.5rem;border-top-right-radius:0.5rem;border-bottom-right-radius:0.5rem;border-bottom-left-radius:0.5rem;}.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-table-of-contents-title-wrap{padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-table-of-contents-title{font-weight:regular;font-style:normal;}.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-table-of-content-wrap .kb-table-of-content-list{color:#1b67a1;font-weight:regular;font-style:normal;margin-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-xs, 1rem);margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;}.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-table-of-content-wrap .kb-table-of-content-list .kb-table-of-contents__entry:hover{color:#111111;}.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-table-of-content-list li{margin-bottom:8px;}.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-table-of-content-list li .kb-table-of-contents-list-sub{margin-top:8px;}.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-toggle-icon-style-basiccircle .kb-table-of-contents-icon-trigger:after, .kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-toggle-icon-style-basiccircle .kb-table-of-contents-icon-trigger:before, .kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-toggle-icon-style-arrowcircle .kb-table-of-contents-icon-trigger:after, .kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-toggle-icon-style-arrowcircle .kb-table-of-contents-icon-trigger:before, .kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-toggle-icon-style-xclosecircle .kb-table-of-contents-icon-trigger:after, .kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-toggle-icon-style-xclosecircle .kb-table-of-contents-icon-trigger:before{background-color:#e7e7dd;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-table-of-content-wrap{border-top:1px solid #d0d0d0;border-right:1px solid #d0d0d0;border-bottom:1px solid #d0d0d0;border-left:1px solid #d0d0d0;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id12_4610cd-80 .kb-table-of-content-wrap{border-top:1px solid #d0d0d0;border-right:1px solid #d0d0d0;border-bottom:1px solid #d0d0d0;border-left:1px solid #d0d0d0;}}<\/style>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Another increase in new asylum claims<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asylum statistics published at the end of February included the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/statistics\/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2024\/how-many-people-claim-asylum-in-the-uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"How many people claim asylum in the UK\">number of claims<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/statistics\/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2024\/how-many-people-are-granted-asylum-in-the-uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"How many people are granted asylum in the UK\">number of grants<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/statistics\/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2024\/how-many-cases-are-in-the-uk-asylum-system--2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">number of cases in the asylum system<\/a>. On the number of claims, 2024 saw a record high of 108,138 people claiming asylum in the UK, 84,231 of those were main applicants and 23,907 were dependants. The total was 18 per cent more than in 2023 and five per cent more than the previous high of 103,081 in 2002. This is still far below countries many other European countries, however, especially Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, visa grants to live in the UK dropped by a third over the past year, driven by a policy clampdown and labour market slowdown. This suggests that projections of a decline in net migration (see article above) might be realistic. The biggest falls were in visas for health and social care work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Labour &#8216;will never clear&#8217; Britain\u2019s asylum claims backlog<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The figures show that at the end of 2024 there were 41,987 asylum appeals in the tribunal courts\u2019 backlog, up from 7,173 at the start of 2023 (see chart). Solicitor Colin Yeo <a href=\"https:\/\/wewantedworkers.substack.com\/p\/asylum-appeals-backlog-could-reach\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"Asylum backlog projections by the end of 2025\">projects<\/a> the backlog to reach 100,000 cases by the end of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Free Movement comments that the appeals backlog is the predictable outcome of a huge increase in refusals, as the grant rate in 2024 fell to 47 per cent, down 20 per cent on the year before, meaning that most asylum cases are now refused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Almost half of the asylum appeals to the First-tier Tribunal are successful (46 per cent in the period October to December 2024), so poor Home Office decision-making is to blame, exacerbated by the lack of legal aid lawyers available to help people through the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Writing in UnHerd, Henry Hill <a href=\"https:\/\/unherd.com\/newsroom\/labour-will-never-clear-britains-asylum-backlog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"Henry Hill article about the backlog of asylum appeals\">argues<\/a> that the backlog of asylum appeals is the result of a generation of politicians failing to tackle the fundamental causes of the problem. Increasing legal aid fees may help bring more lawyers in to work on the cases. But the flagship announcement \u2014 that \u201cministers are planning to change the law to introduce a mandatory 24-week legal deadline for all asylum appeals\u201d \u2014 is probably meaningless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hill argues that: \u201cFor Labour\u2019s proposal to have any teeth, there would need to be actual consequences for missing the deadline, at least for institutions but ideally for specific individuals within those institutions whose duty it is to ensure the new law is complied with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCrucially, however, those institutions or individuals must also have it within their power to comply with the law, both to maximise the chances of driving the change required and as a matter of basic justice. You cannot fairly hold someone responsible for breaking a legal obligation they had no chance of upholding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thousands on axed Rwanda scheme list to have asylum claims processed in UK<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Home Office issued <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2025\/apr\/09\/rwanda-scheme-asylum-seeker-claims-processed-uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">guidance<\/a> hours before a legal challenge on behalf of asylum seekers who were left in limbo when the Rwanda scheme was abandoned. Their delayed claims are expected to be dealt with by the end of 2025. While this is good news, Free Movement points out that claimants from Afghanistan and Syria, whose claims can now proceed, face much higher rejection rates than would have applied if their claims had been dealt with earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Asylum system putting enormous pressure on Glasgow homelessness services<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Glasgow City Council has expressed alarm at the impact of refugee homelessness in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The asylum system risks \u201cdamaging social cohesion\u201d with homeless refugees putting \u201cunprecedented pressure\u201d on Glasgow services, the city council has warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Glasgow City Council had welcomed asylum seekers for decades, said the city convener for homelessness, Allan Casey. But the \u201cunique\u201d circumstances of Scotland\u2019s stronger housing rights, such as a statutory duty to accommodate single adult males, combined with the last Conservative government\u2019s changes to batch-processing claims, means \u201cthe current cost to the city is running into the tens of millions, with no end in sight\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGlasgow is the largest dispersal area in the UK, and we currently house over 4,000 asylum seekers here, and [the housing services provider] Mears have capacity for over 7,000,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThis is putting unprecedented pressure on our housing system. We will continue to believe that asylum dispersal is good for our city, and we have been enriched by it. But the system you are presiding over is damaging social cohesion here, and we want to meet with you to discuss that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Casey pointed out that the circumstances in Glasgow were unique \u201cbecause of Scotland\u2019s world leading homelessness legislation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The asylum system is pushing people into homelessness in England, too, Kirstie Cook, chief executive of the King\u2019s Arms Project charity, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehousing.co.uk\/home\/the-uk-asylum-system-is-pushing-people-into-homelessness-90915\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">told<\/a> Inside Housing. Despite the clear intersection between the asylum system and homelessness, funding streams for both remain largely separate and insufficient to meet growing demand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Another increase in new asylum claims Asylum statistics published at the end of February included the number of claims, number of grants, and number of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","slim_seo":{"title":"The asylum claims backlog and prospects for clearing it - Housing Rights","description":"Another increase in new asylum claims Asylum statistics published at the end of February included the number of claims , number of grants , and number of cases"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asylum-claims"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}