HOME SECRETARY Suella Braverman has said that the Home Office is unlikely to achieve prime minister Rishi Sunak's objective of resolving a backlog of 92,000 asylum claims by the end of the year.
She added that there should be a significant improvement in the speed at which claims are processed.
Braverman told MPs on the Commons Home Affairs committee: "If you maintained the current pace we wouldn't meet the target. However that's to overlook we will have our full cohort of decision makers later this year. They will be trained up and fully proficient."
The asylum backlog total stands at stands at 78,954 cases relating to 104,049 people, according to the latest Home Office data, the BBC reported. Officials need to make 8,773 decisions every month to fulfil Sunak's pledge.
The Home Office is making around 3,600 asylum decisions a month at present, based on the total of 10,750 decisions in the first quarter of 2023.
Braverman pointed out that significant improvement in the Home Office is needed to achieve Sunak's goal.
“There will need to be a substantial increase in productivity and output. I agree with that. I believe we’ve put in place the measures and the processes, [but] all of that takes time," she is reported to have said.
Since the 92,000 backlog as of June last year, a surge in further asylum claims has increased the total backlog of applications to 173,000.
In May, the number of Home Office staff dedicated to making asylum decisions was 1,280, which marked a significant rise compared to last year. However, it represented a slight decline from the number employed at the beginning of 2023.
Parliament is currently debating the government's second major piece of immigration legislation since small boat crossings began in 2018.
If the Illegal Migration Bill becomes law it will block asylum claims from migrants arriving in small boats, although it is likely to face a challenge under human rights law.
According to Braverman, the government is unable to anticipate the full impact of the Illegal Migration Bill due to various unknown factors that will determine its success.
One of the key factors influencing the bill's success is the outcome of the Court of Appeal judgment regarding the Rwanda policy, which is currently on hold, the home secretary said. The bill itself aims to implement the most significant overhaul of the asylum system in a generation.
Regarding the Rwanda policy, Braverman informed MPs that litigation is ongoing and the timeline is beyond the government's control. Once the courts provide a definitive assessment of the feasibility of the Rwanda policy, the government will be able to assess the bill's economic impact with more certainty.
Braverman also revealed that women trafficked into the UK for sexual exploitation could be deported under new measures to tackle illegal migration.
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said that it has been evident for months that the government is not on track to clear the backlog of asylum cases by the end of the year.
"As the home secretary has now admitted, it has been too slow to recruit enough caseworkers to fulfil its pledge, which means that thousands of men, women and children will remain stuck in limbo, living in unsuitable accommodation at huge cost, and unable to move on with their lives," Solomon told The Times.
“Instead of pushing through unworkable and expensive legislation which will only create more suffering for refugees fleeing war and persecution, the government should set out a more ambitious, fair, and workable approach to tackling the backlog. This should include making quicker decisions based on the merit of each person’s claim."
Piyush Goyal and Jonathan Reynolds tour the Royal Opera House in London
