Stats Watchdog To Investigate Government's Claim To Have 'Cleared' Asylum Backlog

The statistics watchdog has launched an official investigation into the government’s claim it cleared the legacy backlog of asylum claims last year.

Downing Street has faced intense criticism – and has even been accused of a “barefaced lie” – after PM Rishi Sunak said his government cleared all applications to remain in the UK made prior to June 28, 2022.

But, after the government’s own data suggested there were still plenty of claims which needed to be addressed, the Office for Statistics Regulation have launched an investigation.

According to Sky News, the watchdog announced its action after a complaint and the investigation is expected to take a few weeks.

It cannot force the Home Office to offer more data although it can ask for it. It could also remove its stamp of reliability from the Home Office’s press releases.

Sunak pledged at the start of last year to “stop the boats” and clear the asylum backlog – meaning this is a crucial policy for his administration.

The confusion over the asylum backlog began earlier this week, when the PM posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the Home Office had dealt with 112,000 “legacy cases” – claims made before June 2022 – by the end of last year.

Sunak claimed: “I said that this government would clear the backlog of asylum decisions by the end of 2023. That’s exactly what we’ve done.”

However, Downing Street’s own data shows that 4,537 “complex cases” still need a decision.

Sunak’s spokesperson suggested that because they had been “reviewed” they were now considered “cleared”.

Home Office data shows that 51,469 asylum applications were granted in total last year, while 25,550 were refused – and 35,119 “non-substantive” decisions were made – where the claim is withdrawn, pause or declared void.

There are also 99,000 more recent claims yet to be processed from last year.

Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock called Sunak’s claim a “barefaced lie”, saying it would “be laughable if it wasn’t such an insult to the public’s intelligence”.

Home secretary James Cleverly was scrutinised on the BBC’s Today programme over the numbers too, after he said it was “impossible” to say when the remaining 100,000 asylum cases would be dealt with.