Responding to immigration and asylum statistics released on 28th November 2024, Enver Solomon, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, said:

The latest statistics show that the new Government has got asylum decision making going again, after it had ground to a halt in the months before the general election, but significant reforms are still needed to cut the backlog of cases and the resulting hotel costs.

More asylum interviews took place in August than any month in the last backlog clearance exercise and the number of decisions made in September was double the number made in June. This is welcome news because making fair decisions about who can stay in the UK and who cannot will help restore public confidence in the system.

We remain concerned that the hangover of what happened before the election means that the backlog of cases waiting for a decision has grown in the last quarter. This means that while the numbers in hotels is down over a third since its peak a year ago, the numbers have risen by a fifth since June.

Fair and right first-time asylum decisions are the fastest way to cut costs in the system, and the best way we can help refugees rebuild their lives and remove those who have no other right to stay here with dignity and respect.

Note: New figures released on 28th November 2024 show trends in:

• the number of asylum decisions: 7,604 decisions in September (June: 3,060 decisions)
• the backlog of asylum cases:  97,170 (up 13% since June 2024)
• the numbers in hotels: 35,651 (down 36% since September 2023, but up 21% since June 2024)