What we can't tell you · Not published
How many people are awaiting an asylum decision in each local authority?
Not published The data is recorded, or could be produced from records, but no authority publishes it.
Why
The Home Office publishes people awaiting an initial decision by nationality, applicant type and duration (table Asy_D03; 48,758 people at end-March 2026) at UK level only. The local authority table it does publish (Asy_D11) counts people in receipt of asylum support by support type and accommodation type, which is a different population: supported claimants, not everyone awaiting a decision. The address of supported claimants is held by the Home Office and its accommodation providers.
What is known
- Asylum backlog by nationality asylum_backlog_by_nationality
- Asylum backlog by duration asylum_backlog_by_duration
- Asylum seekers in receipt of support by local authority asylum_support_by_local_authority
What is not known
- People awaiting a decision by local authority or region
- Unsupported claimants' location at any geography
Who holds the data
- Home Office
- Accommodation providers under contract to the Home Office
Would a Freedom of Information request help?
Possibly. The Home Office holds an address for every supported claimant (that is how Asy_D11 is produced), so a local authority cut of the supported part of the backlog is a held record; unsupported claimants' addresses are case-file data only.
Privacy and disclosure restrictions
Asy_D11 is published unsuppressed at local authority level; a backlog-by-authority table would carry small numbers for many authorities.
Official sources checked
- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-march-2026/how-many-people-are-in-the-uk-asylum-system
- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables
Last reviewed 2026-09-02. Availability changes; if a publication now answers this question, challenge the classification below.