Claim: The asylum initial decision backlog is down by 17,000.
Fact-check: The total asylum initial decision backlog has increased since December - Full Fact
Verdict: this is not correct in terms of the total number of asylum cases awaiting an initial decision, which has increased since december 2022. however the "legacy backlog", which the government defines as asylum applications made before 28 june 2022 still awaiting an initial decision, has fallen by almost 18,000 since december.
Organisation: Full Fact
Author: Hannah Smith
Date published: 2023-06-06T00:00:00