Asylum Seeker Payment Errors & AI Benchmarking

Full Fact identified an error in council website information regarding asylum seeker weekly payments. While self-catered asylum seekers receive £49.18, those with meals get £9.95, a rate that increased in June 2025. This was found during AI benchmarking research.

Asylum Seeker Payment Discrepancies

While destitute asylum candidates in self-catered lodging do obtain ₤ 49.18 a week in asylum assistance from the federal government, the 2nd figure isn’t correct– those in accommodation which offers meals get ₤ 9.95 a week.

Earlier this week, a web page on the council’s website– which was videotaped as having last been updated on 11 September 2026– stated: “Asylum applicants get tiny allocations (₤ 49.18 a week or ₤ 8.86 a week if meals are given).”.

Asylum applicants in full-board holiday accommodation obtained ₤ 8.86 a week from January 2024 up until June 2025, when the payment was boosted to ₤ 9.95. It’s stayed at that rate since.We found this error while performing some preliminary research study for our new AI benchmarking job, which will see Full Fact develop a publicly offered, auditable benchmark to separately evaluate the result of leading AI designs. The enhancing use Huge Language Models has made it more important than ever that the information on main websites is accurate.

AI Benchmarking Project Uncovers Error

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Support Full Fact’s Work

Asylum seekers in full-board accommodation obtained ₤ 8.86 a week from January 2024 until June 2025, when the repayment was raised to ₤ 9.95. It’s remained at that rate since.We came throughout this mistake while carrying out some initial research for our brand-new AI benchmarking task, which will certainly see Full Truth develop a publicly offered, auditable benchmark to independently review the result of leading AI designs. The boosting usage of Big Language Versions has actually made it a lot more important than ever that the info on official internet sites is accurate.