Treatment of Claimants
8.The provisions:
provide that when a deciding authority is deciding whether to believe a statement made by an asylum or human rights claimant they are required to take into account certain behaviour designed to conceal information or mislead or which is deemed to damage his/her credibility;
add a new class of person who will cease to be eligible for support under Paragraph 1 of Schedule 3 to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002;
amend section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 to enable the criteria to be used in determining when accommodation should be provided to be set out in regulations and to permit the continuation of the provision of accommodation to be made conditional upon the performance of or participation in community activities;
amend Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 to establish a local connection for an asylum seeker who is provided with accommodation under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999;
abolish the entitlement to backpayments of income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit for those who are recorded as refugees; and
enable the Secretary of State to make regulations enabling him to make loans to refugees.
