On Friday 14th December, Penny and Andrew Leonard visited Chris Davies MP to present a petition asking him to ask the Home Secretary to ensure that

The Home Office  make decisions as quickly as possible on asylum support applications.
The Home Office is transparent about how it makes decisions on asylum support.
People seeking asylum are given the right to work in the UK while they wait for a decision on their asylum claim so that they can support themselves.

MPs can make sure that the Government hears our message loud and clear – that people seeking protection in Britain deserve dignity, not destitution.
People seeking asylum are fleeing war and persecution. Yet the system they rely on all too often fails them. Instead of safety and shelter, many are left hungry and homeless. They can wait years for a decision on their claim, with a high chance that this decision will be wrong as one in three appeals result in original decisions being overturned.

We do not know if Mr Davies accepted the case but he received the petition.

We also sent a petition to the Home Secretary asking for the Right to work for people seeking asylum. This was a paper copy of the ‘Lift the Ban’ campaign  

People seeking asylum are banned from working until their claim is processed which may take years.
Instead, they are left to live on just £5.39 per day, struggling to support themselves and their families, whilst the Government wastes their  talents.

This letter from  The Guardian makes the case well.

“Banning asylum seekers from working is not only a great social injustice, it’s economically illiterate. An asylum seeker receives £5.39 a day to live on – an allowance that needs to cover clothing, transport, food, personal hygiene and often the cost of their asylum application.

Last month’s Equality and Human Rights Commission report revealed the shocking reality asylum seekers are being forced to choose between medicine and food – a chilling vision which has no place in civil society and should be consigned to the pages of a Dickensian novel.

The UK has a long and proud history of welcoming those seeking sanctuary, as they flee from violence, persecution and despotic regimes. Yet asylum seekers continue to face a ban from working – a policy the home secretary has finally agreed to review (Report, 6 December).

The moral case for ending the ban is blindingly obvious: to lift tens of thousands of people out of destitution and give them the agency they deserve to rebuild their lives, support their families and contribute to the economy. This policy doesn’t need review, it needs to be abandoned.”
Catherine West MP

Letter sent to Mr Javid and response on his behalf- note last paragraph is the quote used by the Home office everytime they were asked about the detained asylum seeker we supported over Christmas.