A REVIEW of the National Asylum Support Service in the wake of the Coniston Hotel fiasco has raised concerns about the organisation's management structure.

The independent review, commissioned by the Home Office, makes a raft of recommendations on how NASS should improve its operations.

These include improving its key business processes and procedures, operational performance and standards of customer care, and understanding its impact on the whole end-to-end asylum process. Ministers also need to clarify the purpose, aims and role of the NASS, the review concludes.

The report has been welcomed by Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Derek Wyatt, who called for the independent review after the organisation's handling of the asylum seeker induction centre plans for Sittingbourne's Coniston Hotel.

He said: "We provoked this review, and what I said at the public meeting about mismanagement and lack of accountability is what is in the document.

"You can be critical, but I do have some sympathy for the day-to-day staff because the work is very difficult."

The Home Office press release and summary of the review makes no direct reference to the Coniston Hotel. The full review document is not being made public.

Immigration minister Beverley Hughes, who became embroiled in the Coniston Row when NASS failed to properly consult the public over the induction centre plans, said action had already been taken to improve the service.

She said: "NASS has begun to show signs of improvement in its operational performance, strategic planning and relationships with partner organisations.

"But there is much more still to do. I am determined that this review should not be simply a paper exercise."