Family asylum policy: the Section 9 implementation project

Aims

The report assesses the effectiveness of the pilot Section 9 project run by the Home Office.

Key issues

The pilot ran from December 2004 to December 2005 and covered 116 family units in London, Leeds and Manchester. A control group of 116 cases dealt with under normal casework procedures was identified to match for nationality and family size. The report provides data on the cohort and control groups, quantitative outcomes on uptake of return from the pilot and stakeholder feedback. A range of stakeholders were consulted to inform the assessment of the effectiveness of the pilot and its processes. Key areas of concern were impact on families and children, difficulties for local authorities in reconciling conflicting principles of child welfare and section 9, and demands on local authority resources made by the pilot.

Conclusions

The evidence from the pilot taken in November 2005 indicates that there was no significant increase in the number of voluntary returns or removals of unsuccessful asylum seeking families; the pilot did not influence behaviour in favour of cooperating with removal.