Asylum cases backlog almost doubles to new record high in blow to Sunak

The backlog of asylum cases in the UK has hit a new record high, Home Office figures show, in a blow to Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats” and cut processing times.

A total of 175,457 people were waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of June, up 44 per cent from 122,213 a year earlier and the highest figure since records began in 2010.

The number of people waiting more than six months for an initial decision stood at 139,961 at the end of June, up 57 per cent year-on-year and another record high.

Tory former justice secretary Robert Buckland slammed the rising backlog as “unacceptable” and called for a “wartime approach” from the Home Office. He said some “progress is being made” in terms of decisions being made more quickly, based on recent casework in his constituency.

But Sir Robert told The Independent: “It will take real political will and more personnel to get through the backlog. It takes almost a wartime approach from the Home Office. They have to be relentless.”

Labour called the situation “complete chaos”, while experts said Rishi Sunak looked unlikely to fulfil his promise to clear the long-term backlog of “legacy” cases by the end of 2023.

The rise in asylum applications waiting for an initial decision is “due to more cases entering the asylum system than receiving initial decisions”, the Home Office said.

However, the number of cases awaiting a decision has risen by less than 1 per cent in the three months to the end of June, suggesting the rise is slowing down.

“This is in part due to an increase in the number of initial decisions made, and an increase in the number of asylum decision makers employed,” the Home Office added.

But the growing backlog is a blow to the prime minister, who has promised to clear it by the end of the year to cut the £6m-a-day it costs the taxpayer to house migrants in hotels.

And as the backlog reached a fresh record, figures showed the annual cost of the UK’s asylum system is £3.97bn, having almost doubled in a year.

Home Office spending on asylum rose by £1.85bn in 2022/23, from £2.12bn in 2021/22. A decade ago, the total was just £500.2m.

Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said the increase shows “the complete chaos the Tories have created in the immigration and asylum system”.

“With this level of mismanagement, there is very little prospect of reducing the eye-wateringly high bill for hotel rooms for all those left in limbo, currently costing the British taxpayer £6 million a day,” he said.

And Peter William Walsh, a senior researcher at the Migration Observatory, said Mr Sunak was unlikely to meet his pledge to clear the long-term backlog by the end of 2023.

He said: “It’s becoming harder to see how the government can meet its pledge to eliminate the so-called ‘legacy backlog’ of older claims by the end of the year, as the rate of decision-making would have to be more than doubled.”

The Home Office said its figures were out of date, and figures to the end of July show the backlog falling.

Charity Refugee Action called on the government to give those waiting more than a year for an asylum decision leave to remain. It also urged ministers to allow asylum seekers to work while awaiting decisions on their claims.

“The huge backlog in asylum decision-making is a product of the government’s hostile environment and it is causing immense suffering to refugees who just want to get on with their lives,” the charity’s head of asylum services Rachel Goodall said.

She said thousands were being forced into inappropriate housing such as former hotels, prison ships and Ministry of Defence sites. “Only the private firms trousering millions in taxpayer-funded profits benefit,” she added.

And think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) warned the government’s approach to the asylum backlog risks “pushing people underground”.

The figures come afterThe Independent this month revealed that the government is now withdrawing more claims than it decides, sparking accusations the backlog is being cut “by the back door”.

Thursday’s figures showed a 47 per cent surge in the number of asylum decisions withdrawn, suggesting the backlog is being driven down by withdrawing claims rather than decisions being made.

IPPR associate director for migration Marley Morris said: “In the long run, this could backfire on the government, as people whose applications are withdrawn end up being pushed underground or make fresh asylum claims.”

Charity Freedom from the charity Torture said the “huge” backlog of asylum seekers is “the result of over a decade of policy failures, mismanagement, and systemic neglect”.

The British Red Cross said huge waiting times for decisions are taking a toll on the physical and mental health of asylum seekers. Its executive director of strategy Christina Marriott, said: “Claims must be processed more efficiently to help people settle into communities, start work, and get on with their lives.”

It came as the overall number of asylum applications in the year to June also hit a two-decade high of 78,768, covering 97,390 people, one-fifth higher than a year earlier. The Home Office said this “partially reflects an increase in small boat arrivals to the UK”.

In the year to June, 52,530 migrants were detected entering the UK via irregular routes, which include small boats, lorries and shipping containers – 17 per cent higher than a year earlier. And of these, 44,460 per cent arrived via small boats, a jump of more than a quarter compared with a year earlier, the Home Office said.

Mr Sunak pledged in January to “stop the boats”, but has since admitted it is a “complex” issue and said he will not be able to do so before a general election expected next autumn.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The most up-to-date figures, released earlier this month, show that the total backlog of asylum cases has fallen to the end of July 2023, a month beyond what the statistics released today cover.

“We are also on track to clear the ‘legacy’ asylum backlog by the end of this year. The latest statistics show this has already been reduced by over 28,000 cases since the end of December 2022, with more than 25 per cent of these being made in the last two months.

“The number of decisions being made overall is also up by 61 per cent and we continue to double the number of caseworkers to further speed up the system as well as using asylum questionnaires in appropriate cases to simplify the decision-making process.”