Each year, NACCOM Members provide information on the number, needs and experiences of people accommodated through their services who are facing destitution because of the immigration system. Below is a summary of the ways data members provided in 2018 has been used.

The information from the survey is primarily used to further our work to end to destitution. Data on the risks of homelessness amongst newly recognised refugees over the last year has been shared with parliamentarians, civil servants and Strategic Migration Partnerships, via our Mind The Gap report, which achieved national media coverage. It has also been widely circulated across the voluntary sector, with Crisis including it in their October report ‘Preventing Homelessness: It’s Everybody’s Business’, and the British Red Cross included it in ‘Still An Ordeal’ (December 2018).

Meanwhile, work with the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Ending Homelessness has developed parliamentary knowledge on issues around the move on period, and since August 2018, we have been part of a National Asylum Stakeholder Forum (NASF) sub-group on Integration which enables NGOs to meet government departments to discuss policy developments and push for reform.

Data from the survey last year identified issues around Section 4 applications (including the length of time people wait to move on and the blockages such delays create for accommodation services). Since then, we have supported members to gather evidence as part of a joint report due out later this year.

Information from the survey on member projects’ access to legal advice was shared with Refugee Action for a joint report, ‘Tipping the Scales: Access to Justice in the Asylum System’ (September 2018). This formed a consultation response to the government’s review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act 2012, the findings from which were published in Feb 2019.

Following the survey, anonymous case studies of families with NRPF facing homelessness were shared with an MP as background research for a parliamentary debate, and additional support for members has included signposting to advice networks including Project 17 and the NRPF Network.

Data captured in the survey also plays a key role in our capacity building and network development. This year, information was used to develop a Funding Toolkit (launched April 2019), whilst data on property schemes has helped the development of the Housing Toolkit (due for publication in autumn 2019). Meanwhile, information members have provided about their geographic reach has enabled us to develop the scope of NACCOM’s regional hubs, which are led by our Network Development Workers and meet every six months across the UK. For more on getting involved in these, see here.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to these developments in the last year. As we launch the 2018-19 survey this week we are calling on members to once again take the time to share their experiences, to help achieve our aim of ending destitution.

[button link=”https://naccom.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2-Page-Bulletin-A4_2018-12-12.pdf” bg_color=”#3d9293″]View the 2018 member survey findings bulletin[/button]