# Abolish asylum backlog by end of 2023

> “we expect to abolish the backlog of initial asylum decisions by the end of next year.”
>
> — Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister, Conservative Party; Commons statement, 13 December 2022

- **Status:** Not met
- **Status ladder:** Promised → In plan → Legislated → Funded → Delivering → Delivered
- **Policy area:** [Police, courts, prisons](https://ledgergov.uk/promises/area/police-courts-and-prisons)
- **Speaker:** [Rishi Sunak](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/rishi-sunak), Prime Minister
- **Party:** [Conservative Party](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/conservatives)
- **Made on:** 13 December 2022
- **Where:** Commons statement
- **Deadline:** 31 December 2023
- **Cost a year:** No costing published
- **Who it affects:** People who had claimed asylum in the UK and were waiting for a first decision
- **When:** By the end of 2023 ("by the end of next year")
- **Paid for by:** Not stated when it was announced
- **Quote source:** https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-statement-on-illegal-migration-13-december-2022 (checked word for word at its source on 20 October 2026; Open Government Licence v3.0)
- **Last updated:** 20 October 2026
- **Card:** https://ledgergov.uk/promise/uk-asylum-backlog-2023

## Where it stands

Home Office statistics show 95,252 asylum cases (128,786 people) still awaiting an initial decision at the end of December 2023, 28% fewer than a year earlier. The Home Office describes the pledge as one to clear the "legacy" backlog of claims made before 28 June 2022, and on 2 January 2024 said that target had been met, with every legacy case reviewed and about 4,500 complex cases needing further checks; its statistics put the legacy cases still awaiting an initial decision at 3,902 at the end of 2023. On either count the backlog was not abolished by the end of 2023, so the card reads Not met.

## Timeline

- 13 December 2022, Promised: The Prime Minister tells the Commons he expects to abolish the backlog of initial asylum decisions by the end of 2023
- 31 December 2023, Deadline: Backlog of initial asylum decisions due to be abolished
- 29 February 2024, Not met: Home Office statistics: 95,252 cases still awaiting an initial decision at the end of December 2023, 3,902 of them legacy cases ([evidence](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2023/how-many-people-do-we-grant-protection-to))

## About the cost

No figure in the statement, and no costing of the pledge was published with it.

## Sources

- [Prime Minister's Office: PM statement on illegal migration, 13 December 2022](https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-statement-on-illegal-migration-13-december-2022)
- [Home Office: Legacy backlog cleared as plan to stop the boats delivers (2 Jan 2024)](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/legacy-backlog-cleared-as-plan-to-stop-the-boats-delivers)
- [Home Office: Immigration system statistics, year ending December 2023: how many people do we grant protection to? (29 Feb 2024)](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2023/how-many-people-do-we-grant-protection-to)

## Checks

- Checked automatically by AI Journalist, not yet verified by an editor.
- Checked by AI Journalist (automated) on 20 October 2026.

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