The Case for Fast-Track Processing
What independent economic modelling says about processing asylum claims faster
Independent economic modelling by the London School of Economics, commissioned by the cross-party Commission on the Integration of Refugees, found that implementing just two specific reforms would produce a net economic benefit of £1.2 billion within five years — with the benefits outweighing the costs within three years.
The two reforms: providing English language classes from the day someone arrives, and giving employment support once someone has waited six months for a decision — alongside the government meeting its own existing target of deciding claims within six months.
This is not a campaign estimate. The modelling was conducted by LSE economists as part of a two-year, cross-party review involving more than 1,250 stakeholders — including asylum seekers and refugees themselves, policymakers, academics and journalists.
While a claim is being decided, an asylum seeker cannot work. The current average wait for an initial decision runs well over a year, and some people wait considerably longer — almost one in 25 people supported by the refugee employment charity Breaking Barriers waited more than 10 years.
Every month someone is barred from working is a month they cost the state in support payments rather than contributing in tax. It's also a month added to a gap in their CV that later makes them harder to employ, even once they're finally allowed to work.
The honest answer is: it depends which asylum seekers, and there isn't one single number that describes everyone.
Home Office data analysed by the Oxford Migration Observatory shows that, as a whole population, people seeking asylum in the UK tend to have lower average levels of education than other migrant groups and the UK-born population.
At the same time, among the specific group of refugees supported by the employment charity Breaking Barriers in 2024-25, 71% held at least an undergraduate degree , and 24% held a master's degree, PhD or equivalent . Two-thirds had at least three years' work experience, and 30% had worked for ten years or more.
Both figures are genuine — they simply describe different, overlapping groups. What's consistent across the evidence is that refugees are around three times more likely to be unemployed than people born in the UK , regardless of their qualifications — not because they lack skills, but because of specific, documented barriers.
Research from Breaking Barriers identifies the barriers that keep qualified refugees out of work once they're finally allowed to seek it:
- Employment gaps on their CV caused directly by the length of the asylum process itself
- Foreign qualifications not recognised by UK employers
- Lack of UK work experience or professional networks
- Language barriers
- Public misconceptions and discrimination
The Commission's report set out 16 recommendations. Alongside the two that underpin the £1.2bn figure, it also called for:
- Recognition of foreign qualifications, with access to further and higher education
- General eligibility to work after six months, for anyone still waiting on a decision
- A dedicated employment support programme for refugees and eligible asylum seekers