Written evidence submitted by Quaker Social Action (AAC0021)
The Cook Up Project
The Cook Up project[1] is part of QSA, an anti-poverty charity operating across London, addressing issues affecting people living in poverty. Cook Up provides kitchen spaces for those who require one. We welcome individuals experiencing various forms of homelessness to use our kitchens, providing them with ingredients and covering their travel costs. Over 70% of participants are asylum seekers and refugees who have encountered inadequate food provision while in Home Office accommodation. The project has been running for nearly four years and has considerable experience working with and supporting asylum seekers. We have conducted over 180 sessions in the kitchen, supporting more than 135 individuals who have prepared over 7,000 portions of food for themselves and their families. This submission will examine the contracts awarded for food provision and migrant support services and the impact of these services on our asylum-seeking participants at Cook Up.
Introduction
The issues with food in asylum accommodation go beyond the food itself; the unsuitable environments in which asylum seekers are expected to eat only exacerbate the underlying culture that they do not belong, are not welcome, and do not have a right to a safe ‘home’.
1. Food Provision in Home Office Accommodation
A Refugee Action report[2] published in March 2023 revealed that 75% of the individuals they interviewed in asylum accommodation, including hotels, reported the poor quality and unsuitability of the food provided. The report includes cases of individuals and their children losing weight due to their inability to eat the food provided.
A report by Just Fair[3] heard similar accounts from asylum seeking families, stating the food was insufficient and unhealthy, and that their children were losing weight. In some instances, doctors had expressed concerns about children’s development, and the report highlights health professionals ‘have warned that an increasing number of children in contingency hotel accommodation suffer from malnutrition and other health issues caused by the food they receive.’ This issue is also highlighted in this Guardian article[4] from June 2023.
Cook Up has received referrals from several agencies, including those working in the charity sector on food, housing, and health-related issues, as well as direct referrals from various NHS services. We are often made aware of the poor physical and mental health of adults and children in asylum-seeking accommodation.
Below is a quote from Dr Abbie Unwin, a clinical psychologist working for East London NHS Foundation Trust.
“I have joined Cook Up sessions on many occasions as both a visitor and a volunteer. During this time, I have spoken to the people attending the sessions and am aware of the essential service it provides for them. Many of the people I have spoken to have described the poor-quality food they are given in the hotels they have been housed in, and the impact this is having on their physical health. Likewise, many of the parents I have spoken to have described the lack of nutritious food available for their children and the impact this is having on their wellbeing and development. As a result, many people attending Cook Up choose to cook with a variety of different vegetables, enabling them to take home nutritious food which they otherwise wouldn’t have access to.
A number of the people I have spoken to have described having physical health problems for which they are not able to follow the diets recommended to them by health professionals as this food is not available to them in their accommodation. One gentleman I have spoken to told me that he has a liver condition which requires him to eat particular foods, with an emphasis on fresh vegetables. He explained that he and his family are given a lot of potatoes and white carbohydrates at the hotel they are staying in, all of which are having a significant detrimental impact on his liver condition. This situation is understandably also having an impact on him and his wife’s mental health as they worry about his consequent weight loss and the deterioration of his health.
Many people have described having little control or choice in their lives due to the restrictive and cramped conditions they are living in. They have described the positive impact that attending Cook Up has had on their wellbeing and confidence as they have a safe space to cook and choice over what they cook, supporting them to reconnect with their culture and heritage through the dishes they make, while also having an opportunity to use their cooking skills and to meet new people. I have referred people to Cook Up as I believe that access to nutritious food and a choice over what you eat is a fundamental human right, yet this has not been available to people through state provision.”
A Migrant Voice[5] report, which surveyed more than 170 asylum seekers housed in hotels and other forms of contingency accommodation, focused on the impact on people's physical and mental health. Very few of the individuals interviewed had access to cooking facilities, and the ‘single biggest issue in conversations about living conditions was the quality of food at the hotels.’ One woman they spoke to said she had developed diabetes during her pregnancy, which was worsened by the carbohydrate-heavy food provided. ‘Another asylum seeker said he developed diabetes as a result of the food served, and that his doctor visited the hotel to assess the conditions and find out why his patient’s health was in such steep decline’.[6] The poor quality of the food provided was a source of frustration for many people, as well as their inability to cook or prepare their own food. The authors considered this part of a broader policy, including the uncertainty about the length of their stay and lack of communication from the Home Office, which ‘strips them of autonomy in almost every aspect of their lives.’
The following quote is from a participant who found Cook Up through an online search. They raised several food safety and hygiene concerns and reported seeing fresh fruit and vegetables being stored in a disabled toilet in their hotel. They also reported breakfast items and meals running out before everyone had been served, as well as extremely spicy food unsuitable for their child.
“We are a family of three with a two-year-old child and were staying in a Home Office hotel in London without cooking facilities. Before finding Cook Up, we didn't eat three meals a day. We couldn't cook meals for the baby; she was ill and constipated without proper food. We had tears in our eyes after eating our first meal after a Cook Up session.”
We have also had reports from our participants that hotel accommodation provided by the Home Office, sometimes does have a kitchenette within the room. It seems to be at the hotel’s discretion if they allow asylum seekers to use the kitchenette. Our participants have told us that power to kitchenettes is often disconnected, showing an active choice made by hotels to prevent asylum seekers from cooking. We believe the Home Office offers little guidance to hotels on the use of kitchenettes, and so there is little accountability to provide this even when it is readily available.
Our participants at Cook Up have also informed us that cooking equipment they have purchased themselves (such as microwaves, minifridges, air fryers and rice cookers) has been confiscated by hotel staff. We have also been made aware that hotel staff can treat asylum seekers with a lack of respect and dignity, often entering rooms unannounced, without knocking (including in the middle of the night). Our participants have reported their belongings of value going missing whilst they are away from their rooms. One participant was extremely distressed to find the food she had cooked in our kitchen had been thrown away whilst she was picking up her children from school. She could find no one to take accountability or give a reason why this happened.
1.1 Hotel Staff
There have been mixed emotions from Cook Up participants around their treatment by hotel staff. Some have experienced staff who are responsive and helpful. Others, however, have experienced a more hostile attitude, especially when complaints have been made about hotel facilities.
A Cook Up participant said they had seen a hotel staff member placing several milk cartons and yoghurts (intended for children at breakfast) into their own bag. They were then informed the milk and yoghurt had run out when they asked for some for their child and were told there was none left. On confronting the hotel staff member, they were given one from the staff members bag.
‘For some respondents, not obeying arbitrary rules, or complaining about their living conditions or sometimes even asking for help, resulted in receiving made-up threats of being “sent to Rwanda”’[7].
This raises questions around subcontractors and hotel staff, especially around the level of training they receive and the rate of staff turnover.
2. Home Office Response
Amid media reports of asylum seeker catered meals being ‘inadequate’, when approached for comment, the Home Office responded with the statement:
“The food provided in asylum hotels meets all the NHS Eatwell standards as well as responding to all cultural and dietary requirements.”[8]
Asylum seeker descriptions of catering in Home Office hotels as well as third sector organisations such as ours might disagree with this statement due to a lack of consistent fresh fruit, vegetables, and protein in asylum seeker meals. However, if NHS Eatwell guidelines were being followed, we must explore why catered food remains inadequate and if the NHS Eatwell guidelines are no longer fit for purpose.
2.1 NHS Eatwell Guide unfit for this purpose
The NHS has used a version of the Eatwell guidelines for many years. The first version was created in 1994, updated to the Eatwell Plate in 2007, and then to the current version of the Eatwell Guide in 2016. The majority of the group that first formulated the Eatwell Guide consisted of food and drink industry representatives[9] appointed by Public Health England (PHE). PHE has been criticised for not using a group made up entirely of independent experts.
Researchers[10] have deemed the guide as lacking an evidence-based approach and questioned the high proportion of carbohydrates and starchy foods (currently shown as over a third of an entire diet) as well as the lack of protein and dairy, which are essential for optimal bodily function.[11]
“There has been no randomised controlled trial of a diet based on the Eatwell Plate or Guide, let alone one large enough, long enough, with whole population generalisability,” Dr Harcombe, of the Institute of Clinical Exercise and Health Science, University of West of Scotland.
The Eatwell Guide was also formulated with the weight of food in mind, which is a poor measure for nutrients. There have been reports that meals in catered Home Office accommodation are insufficient in portion size, leaving people hungry, with some reports stating there are no opportunities for second helpings. Doctors have recorded several asylum seekers as being deficient in iron and other vitamins/minerals and have made recommendations for patients to improve their diets.[12]
“If all UK diabetics were to follow guidelines reflecting the independent scientific evidence and ignore current low-fat diet government guidelines, it would reduce dependency on diabetes drugs and insulin by over 50 per cent, saving the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds annually. Basing diets on starchy foods is misguided and, in my view, has been a direct cause of the obesity crisis. For decades, fat has been demonised and led to a huge market in low-fat products…” Cardiologist. [13]
A former Royal College of Physicians president, added: “It’s more important to cut down on the calories in carbohydrates rather than the calories in fat, because it has caused a tsunami in diabetes”.[14]
The Home Office statement may ring true in some cases, as the Eatwell Guide may be the standard used by some caterers of asylum seeker meals, but it brings into question the validity of the Eatwell Guide as a standardised guide for those in vulnerable situations with very different dietary needs.
- Complaints procedure and Migrant Help
Many Cook Up participants have told us they have complained directly to hotels about the improper storage of food and the general standard and quality of meals and accommodation, and have also escalated complaints to Migrant Help.
Migrant Help is the sole official provider of advice and support for people seeking asylum funded by the Home Office.
Surprisingly, asylum accommodation is heavily inspected by the Home Office, private contractors and local authorities. In a Parliamentary publication from 2017, it was described as the ‘most inspected accommodation in the UK.’[15] The Independent Chief Inspectors of Borders and Immigration report[16] produced in 2021 states that the provision of food in contingency asylum accommodation is seen by asylum seekers and their advocates as the single biggest issue facing service users, particularly in hotels. Some of the main issues include the lack of nutritional value, culturally inappropriate food, unsuitable spice levels for children and food that does not adequately cater for people with medical issues. With delays on asylum claims continuing to expand, asylum seekers are having to endure low-quality food in unsuitable accommodation for significant periods of time.
Complaints Process and Responses
The Home Office Guide to Living in Dispersal Accommodation, March 2023[17] prompts asylum seekers to contact Migrant Help to address any complaints. If a person is dissatisfied with the response, Migrant Help will escalate complaints to the Home Office who will aim to respond within 20 working days. If you are dissatisfied with the response, you can escalate your complaint to the Independent Examiner of Complaints (IEC) within three months. These formal complaints systems are flawed with a lack of responses, often used as a bureaucratic buffer to overlook serious issues with accommodation and food. This allows for complaints to be unnecessarily passed among different departments without any practical action taken. There is a lack of consistency over how complaints are recorded in different accommodation types; levels of complaints reported by private contractors are rarely a true reflection of the number of complaints made by service users. [18]
The racist culture prevalent in many of the hotels often prevents asylum seekers’ complaints from being taken seriously. Many asylum seekers are met with hostility and disbelief when complaints are made to hotel staff. One asylum seeker was told by a G4S worker[19] when they complained: “If you do this, it will backfire.” People are afraid if they say something, they will be deported. Another G4S worker said: “I want to quit this job because they are teaching me to be cruel”. A lack of training among staff members on vulnerability and safeguarding issues can mean that complaints are severely mismanaged.
People seeking asylum generally have a low awareness of their rights and a fear that any complaints made will have a negative repercussion on their asylum claim.
Users of the Migrant Help helpline, (including Cook Up participants) have reported endless wait times as well as unanswered calls. Our own participants have reported ineffective advice telling people to speak directly to the hotels about the poor facilities and quality of food (a measure already tried by most before calling the helpline).
There are also reports that Migrant Help has rejected conference calls[20], these calls are often made with solicitors or charities advocating for their clients with an extreme level of urgency. Migrant Help has made assurances and said they have now trained staff to accept these calls but there are reports these conference calls are still being rejected. Our own participants have escalated complaints to find long periods of time passing with no response or no resolution offered.
Migrant Help remains extremely well-funded. In 2019, Migrant Help was awarded the Advice, issue reporting and eligibility contract (AIRE)[21] for provision of services to those seeking asylum. The contract runs until 2029 and is worth £235 million. The aim of the AIRE contract is to ‘provide impartial and independent information, advice, guidance and assistance to help Service Users to understand and navigate the Asylum Support System effectively.’ [22]
Conclusions and Recommendations
- There are numerous issues with housing and food provision with the current setup by the Home Office and its contractors. Charities working in this field on the front-line, such as QSA, are filling the gaps in essential provision and support for asylum seekers whilst they are housed by the Home Office.
- The use of contingency accommodation for asylum seekers is not suitable for the duration many of them end up staying. There must be improvement to accommodation and accountability of funds spent toward this.
- The lack of cooking facilities has a serious impact on the physical and mental health of asylum seekers. A place to cook should be made available to asylum seekers. Funding the Voluntary and Community Sector to provide community kitchens is likely to be better value for money and provide a high quality, more respectful service than paying for-profit contractors.
- Asylum Seeker accommodation is made hostile by a lack of training for staff. Hotel staff should undergo trauma-informed training as well as be instructed to treat asylum seekers with dignity and respect.
Jan 2025