Rishi Sunak claims legacy asylum backlog has been cleared despite thousands of cases awaiting decision

Rishi Sunak has claimed the government has met his target of clearing the legacy asylum backlog, despite thousands of cases still awaiting an initial first decision.

The Home Office said on Monday (1 January) that the Prime Minister's “commitment of clearing the legacy asylum backlog has been delivered” and it had processed more than 112,000 asylum cases overall in 2023. While Sunak wrote in the Daily Express that this was the result of "relentless action to tackle illegal migration over the past year", adding: "When I set out my blueprint to stop the boats, abolishing the legacy backlog was a key part of it.”

However today (2 January), official government figures show that more than 4,500 so-called legacy cases were still awaiting an initial decision as of 28 December. Home Secretary James Cleverly said the entire legacy backlog had been processed.

What is the legacy asylum backlog?

The legacy asylum backlog refers to claims made before 28 June 2022, which is the day large parts of the Nationality and Borders Act came into force. This introduced a two-tier asylum system, which means those who arrive in the UK by irregular means - such as on small boats - receive less protection and support than previously. The Law Society said the act may be incompatible with international law.

The backlog stood at 100,548 at the end of June 2022, meaning it had been cut by 95% as of 28 December 2023. Home Office figures show that there are still 4,537 asylum applications awaiting an initial decision. These "require additional checks or investigation for a final decision to be made", the Home Office said, and involve “asylum seekers presenting as children – where age verification is taking place; those with serious medical issues; or those with suspected past convictions". While the non-legacy backlog, covering applications made on or after June 28 2022, stands at 94,062, up 3% from 91,076 on November 30.

What has Rishi Sunak said?

Setting out a five-point plan in a bid to grip the migrant crisis in December 2022, Sunak said “unless we act now, and decisively, this will only get worse”. He told MPs “we expect to abolish the backlog of initial asylum decisions by the end of next year” after hiring more caseworkers and overhauling the system for processing applications.

But his vow was almost immediately called into question by Labour amid confusion over the scale of his ambition. Within hours of the announcement, Downing Street appeared to downgrade the target to say only a portion of outstanding applications would be cleared - those legacy claims made before 28 June 2022.

Today, Sunak tweeted: "I said that this government would clear the backlog of asylum decisions by the end of 2023. That’s exactly what we’ve done. Over 112,000 cases are now cleared with a lower grant rate than last year, a key part of our plan to stop the boats." His tweet immediately had a community note added, stating: "The backlog has not been cleared."

When questioned by journalists about this, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "We committed to clearing the backlog, that is what the government has done, we have been very transparent about what that entails. We have processed all of those cases, indeed we've gone even further than the original commitment.

"As a result of that process, there are a small minority of cases which are complex and because of our rigorous standards require further work - but nonetheless it is a significant piece of work by Home Office officials to process such huge numbers in a short period of time while retaining our rigorous safety and standards."

What has Labour said?

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper tweeted that it's "not true" that the government has cleared the asylum backlog, saying Sunak has made "five broken promises on asylum and small boats this year". Cooper said that Sunak has not cleared the asylum backlog or the legacy backlog, citing those 4,537 cases.

She also said that the PM claimed he would end asylum hotel use, stop the boats and promised to bring in a new law - all of which have not come to fruition yet. While Shadow Immigration Minister Stephen Kinnock explained: "The asylum backlog has rocketed to 165,000 under the Tories - eight times higher than when Labour left office - and no slicing or renaming the figures can disguise that fact. Even their claims to have cleared the so-called ‘legacy backlog’ are false.

"Over 4,000 claims are unresolved and a disturbing 17,000 asylum seekers have simply been 'withdrawn' by the Tories from this legacy backlog, with ministers seeming to have no idea where they are and whether they are reapplying or disappearing into the underground economy. Meanwhile Rishi Sunak’s promise made a year ago to end asylum hotel use has been disastrously broken - with a 20% increase to 56,000, costing the British taxpayer more than £2bn a year. This is yet more evidence of an asylum system broken by the Conservatives."

Ralph Blackburn is NationalWorld’s politics editor based in Westminster, where he gets special access to Parliament, MPs and government briefings. If you liked this article you can follow Ralph on X (Twitter) here and sign up to his free weekly newsletter Politics Uncovered, which brings you the latest analysis and gossip from Westminster every Sunday morning.