Priority 1: Supporting Asylum Seekers

CSMP will continue to work with key stakeholders to ensure that asylum seekers are provided with quality support and accommodation. This will be contingent on the maintenance of strong links with service providers and on the delivery of effective information sharing.

As regards the policy work of CSMP, there is a range of activity that requires to be taken forward. A key aspect of this activity will be to assist with the smooth introduction of the New Asylum Model (NAM), which is the new operational framework that will be used to assess asylum claims. It will be important to work in partnership with all key stakeholders to ensure that the quality and speed of decision making is improved. In addition to the introduction of NAM, there are various policies that need to be progressed. An overview of our future activity is described in the table below:

Policy Area	Future Activity
Dispersal & Induction	Monitor and review BIA management information regarding the dispersal of asylum seekers into Scotland; Work with partners in ensuring that the Scottish Induction Service has the capacity to accommodate and support dispersed asylum seekers.
New Asylum Model	Work with partners to ensure that the New Asylum Model delivers better quality and faster decision-making; Explore the potential implications of NAM in relation to the demographic mix of dispersed asylum seekers in Glasgow; Assess whether a quicker through-put of cases will have implications for integration and community cohesion issues. Consider emerging legislative conflicts and whether NAM is fully compatible with the Scottish Judicial Review system.
Accommodation & Support	Work with partners to ensure that the dispersal process is managed within the bounds of the cluster limit; Provide a clear conduit between BIA Scotland and key stakeholders on current and emerging accommodation and support issues and any consequent impact upon service provision, need and cost.
UASC	Facilitate new arrangements for the statutory assessment and care of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC); Engage with key issues that are fundamental to UASC care: funding, decision making, age assessment, integration and removals. Consider whether the positive aspects of NAM – dedicated case owners and better decision-making Ð could be entrenched within processes for assessing UASC cases.
Destitution	Address the potential conflict between the position of the Scottish Executive on rough sleeping and the position of the Home Office as regards the withdrawal of support to failed asylum seekers without dependants; Follow-up on the work-shop held by CSMP on the issue of destitution and investigate any policy responses.
Removal	Work with BIA in reducing the number of failed asylum seekers, either through voluntary return or humane removal; Assist the Scottish Executive and BIA with the introduction of the Lead Professional Model; Work with the International Organization for Migration in promoting its services to asylum seekers.