London - The British Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, is planning to set up a string of reception centres to house asylum seekers and end the dispersal system which has seen them placed in run-down housing estates across the country. He is expected to deliver the long-awaited results of his review of the asylum and immigration system to the House of Commons today.
The Home Office last night dismissed reports that he is planning to create more than 10,000 places in the reception centres.
Several newspapers were also reporting that the controversial voucher system will be scrapped and replaced with cash payments to support people awaiting decisions on their applications for refugee status. The dispersal system introduced by Mr Blunkett's predecessor, Mr Jack Straw, has led to a series of disturbances as large groups of asylum seekers were placed in communities with little previous exposure to immigrants.
