Number of people on asylum support in Bolton drops

Most local authorities – including neighbouring Bury and Salford - have seen a rise in people currently receiving "Section 95" support as they wait for their asylum applications to be decided upon.

As of September 30, 2022, 794 people in the borough were receiving the support, down slightly from the same time last year when the figure was 809.

Nationally, around 58,000 people were in receipt of Section 95 support, up form 46,000 the year before.

And across the North West, 11,715 people were receiving the support at the end of September, up from 8,944 in September 2021.

These figures do not include those from Ukraine and Afghanistan, who receive different forms of support.

The number of asylum seekers in Bolton tends to fluctuate between 750 and 1,000 and the council regularly takes in more than most in the North West.

In fact, despite the decrease, Bolton still has the fourth most asylum seekers in the North West, only behind Liverpool, Manchester, and Wigan.

Councils have no say on how many asylum seekers are placed in their area. It is managed centrally and there seems to be a trend towards areas where accommodation is cheaper.

READ MORE: Chris Green steps in to stop asylum seekers being housed in Mercure Georgian Hotel

Earlier this year, it took resistance from a combination of the council and Bolton West MP Chris Green to prevent the Mercure Georgian House Hotel in Blackrod becoming an "asylum hotel", as they successfully reasoned that Bolton is already doing its fair share.

Councils have no control over how quickly an asylum application takes to be completed.

But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently vowed to clear the backlog of 117,000 asylum claims by the end of 2023.

The Prime Minister has pledged to clear the backlog of people seeking asylum support (Image: PA)

He said the government was hiring more caseworkers and overhauling the system for processing system.

The Refugee Council, a campaign group for refugees, said that the Prime Minister "had offered little in terms of concrete steps" to clear the backlog, adding that it is concerned the commitment will not be delivered.

Tamsin Baxter, executive director of external affairs at the charity, said: "As the number of people waiting for a decision grows, so does the number of people left in limbo, unable to work, and dependent on the Home Office for accommodation and financial support."

Since 2014, 2,088 asylum seekers have been resettled across the North West through various schemes.

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