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Matthew Offord

Member of Parliament for Hendon Constituency
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Support for Asylum Seekers - September 2020

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The UK has a proud tradition of providing a place of safety for refugees. Each claim for asylum is carefully considered and where it is found that individuals are in need of protection, asylum is given, with the ultimate aim of helping them to return home if it is safe to do so.  

Asylum seekers are allowed to work, in jobs on the Shortage Occupation List, if their claim has not been decided after 12 months through no fault of their own. The current policy aims to strike a balance between being equitable towards asylum seekers, while considering the rights and needs of our society as a whole, prioritising jobs for British citizens and those with leave to remain here, including refugees. The Government is considering recent calls to change the current policy and is reviewing the evidence available.

I should also mention that any asylum seeker who would otherwise be destitute is provided with free accommodation, utility bills and council tax paid and a weekly cash allowance with extra money available for mothers and young children. 

 From the 15 June, the cash allowance was raised from £37.75 to £39.60, representing a rise of around 5 per cent. It is important to consider that this is significantly higher than general inflation which data showed was 0.8 per cent in the 12 months to April 2020. Indeed, food inflation over the same period was 1.4 per cent.

The methodology used for the cash allowance has been recognised by the Courts as rational and lawful. You may be interested in reading about how this works here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-on-review-of-cash-all…. It is also important to factor in that NHS healthcare and education for children is provided free of charge.

National Issues

  • Universal Credit (£20 uplift) - September 2021
  • Electoral Commission - July 2021
  • Joint replacement surgery backlog - July 2021
  • Intellectual Property changes - June 2021
  • Ethiopia - June 2021
  • Legacy Benefits - June 2021
  • Caged gamebirds - May 2021
  • Violence in Israel and OPTs
  • Climate Change
  • Supporting Cinema - March 2021
  • Visas for touring creatives in the EU - January 2021
  • NHS Pay - November 2020
  • Fire Safety Bill - September 2020
  • Animal Welfare - September 2020
  • Pesticide Standards - September 2020
  • Support for Asylum Seekers - September 2020
  • Cladding and EWS1 form - August 2020
  • Transport for under-18s - August 2020
  • Sustainable Fishing - August 2020
  • Coronavirus (COVID-19)
  • Human Rights in Bahrain - July 2020
  • Immigration detention - July 2020
  • Merging the FCO and DFID
  • NHS Pay Increase - June 2020
  • Food Standards - June 2020
  • UK-US Free Trade Agreement - June 2020
  • Race horse welfare - March 2020
  • Windrush 'Lessons Learned' report - February 2020
  • Ocean Conservation - February 2020
  • Dementia care - January 2020
  • Horse tethering - January 2020
  • Abortion in Northern Ireland - (Updated) July 2019
  • Fit for Work Notes - April 2019
  • NHS - (Updated) March 2019
  • Immigration Bill - March 2019
  • Religious Persecution of Christians - February 2019
  • Brexit
  • Archive (2016-2018)

Matthew Offord Member of Parliament for Hendon Constituency

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