2 By autumn 2001 the numbers of asylum applications had been rising steadily for some time (see Figure 1) and the system was coming under strain.4 Following an internal review5 of the operation of the asylum voucher6 system and growing public dissatisfaction with the asylum dispersal system, the Home Office considered three options to deliver a more efficient asylum system. These were: to continue making incremental improvements to the National Asylum Support Service; to expand the existing asylum reporting centre estate; and to establish accommodation centres.
3 In October 2001 the Home Office announced a major overhaul of the asylum system and began a limited trial initially for four accommodation centres.7 Three thousand places were to be provided in purpose built accommodation centres by the end of 2002. These would house a proportion of first time asylum seekers from application to decision and appeal, offering full board, education, health and leisure facilities in hostel-type accommodation on sites such as disused military bases and holiday campsites. The purpose of the accommodation centre trial was to assess whether the centres provided a more supportive environment for asylum seekers than existing dispersal arrangements8 and to see what effect centres had on processing applications and effective decision taking.
4 To deliver the accommodation programme quickly, the Home Office appointed consultants as procurement project managers and strategic advisers. This core team took advice from 12 other groups of specialists, including architects, cost accountants, structural advisers, planning consultants, land agents, traffic consultants, two sets of legal advisers, landscape consultants, financial advisers and insurance advisers.
5 The governance arrangements for the accommodation centre project had three tiers. Strategic oversight of the project rested with the Steering Committee, chaired by the Senior Responsible Officer from the Home Office's Immigration and Nationality Directorate. Day to day responsibility lay with the project team, led by the project manager with a small team of Home Office civil servants, supported by external consultants. Management of risk and ownership of the Business Specification rested with the Project Board, chaired by the project manager and attended by key stakeholders from the Home Office, other government departments and agencies.
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4 For a fuller picture of the asylum system during this period, see our reports: Improving the speed & quality of asylum decisions (HC 535, 2003-04); NASS - The provision of accommodation for asylum seekers, (HC 130, 2005-06) and Returning failed asylum applicants (HC 76, 2005-06) and related PAC reports.
5 Asylum seekers' experiences of the voucher scheme in the UK - fieldwork report, Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate, March 2002.
6 Introduced in April 2000 to replace cash benefits, asylum applicants received £10 cash and vouchers totalling between £18.95 and £26.54 (couples £47.37) a week, which could be used only in designated stores. The scheme was scrapped in April 2002 and replaced with cash benefits payable at post offices.
7 During the passage of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, the Refugee Council proposed a 'core and cluster' alternative, which would provide accommodation at a number of smaller sites and key processing and support functions at a central core facility. Ministers committed to a mixed trial of a number of centres based on the original model, plus a core and cluster centre.
8 Home Office White Paper Secure Borders Safe Haven, CM 5387, February 2002.