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Immigration policy development
Voluntary Appointment System
In 2009 we piloted a new, innovative electronic appointment system for asylum applicants seeking legal advice.
The aim of the pilots was to test whether we could replace our previous paper based rota system, with a more efficient internet based system, better reflecting provider availability and increasing applicants' ability to access legal advice early in the asylum process.
Providers would upload appointments onto the system, which clients could then choose based on the date/time that they were available, and their distance to the provider.
Three pilots of the system have been run to date in
- Wales & South West;
- North West of England
- Yorkshire and Humberside
Each pilot involved collaborative working between the LSC and organisations such as Welsh Refugee Council, The Refugee Council and UK Borders Agency.
The evaluations of the Wales & South West, and North West pilots can be found in the Related Documents section of this page.
The Yorkshire and Humberside pilot is in the process of being evaluated, we hope to publish the final report shortly.
Building on the success of the pilots, we have now implemented the system in Wales and the South West in place of the paper rota.
The system continues to operate in Yorkshire and Humberside whilst the formal evaluation takes place.
It is our intention for the online system to replace the paper rota in all regions where this currently exists by October 2010.
Taking into account learning from the pilot schemes, the system is currently being redeveloped to make it more reflective of the needs of Immigration providers and operators.
We would hope to launch the new system by late summer 2010.
More Information
This work represents significant strides in ensuring increased access to legal advice for some of the most vulnerable members of society by providing greater opportunity for early advice to be given.
If you would like to know more about the Pilot please Contact the Immigration Policy team. The report is available via the link on the right hand side of the page.
Early Advice Pilot in Solihull
In 2006 the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and the LSC developed a proposal for improving the quality of asylum decisions. The Solihull Early Legal Advice Pilot aimed to allow claimants access to quality information and advice from legal advisers from the earliest stages of the asylum process.
A decision is made by the UKBA caseworker after interviewing an asylum applicant. The LSC allows the applicant to access legal advice before this process.
The pilot identified and tested four constituent elements:
- A ‘pre-interview discussion’ process between the UKBA caseworker and the legal representative - a meaningful discussion to identify key issues and narrow those issues, providing structure and focus for the actual interview.
- An ‘interactive interview’ - the representative would attend the asylum interview with the applicant to help focus on the key issues, to protect the applicant, to help disclosure by the applicant, to intervene where appropriate and to clarify issues as they arose.
- ‘Oral submissions’ after the interactive interview - to ask the UKBA caseworker if any concerns remain, to address concerns or doubts, to highlight key evidence and to explain and persuade.
- ‘Post interview discussion’ between the UKBA caseworker and the legal representative - to find out what is accepted, what is not accepted and why, to consider what further evidence may be relevant and available, to provide focus for written representations.
The LSC and UKBA have concluded that further 'rollout testing' should be undertaken for at least 12 months. This rollout test will be called the ‘Early Legal Advice Process’ (ELAP).
Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC)
We're working closely with the Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) Reform Programme and our other stakeholders to work out how legal services should be provided to these clients.
Visit the Civil Bid Rounds for 2010 Contracts consultation page for further information.
Details of the UASC Reform Programme can be found on the Home Office Website.
Last updated: 31 March 2010