asked Her Majesty's Government:

What steps they have taken to ensure that, in evaluating asylum applications, case owners do not make a clinical judgment of their own in assessing claims about medical conditions but rely on the objective evidence before them and that, in assessing whether a case should remain within the detained fast track, case owners are aware that they should not contend that a medical report has no probative value; and whether they will incorporate this guidance into immigration instructions. [HL4120]

The policy instruction, which all case owners must follow, clearly states that in considering a medical report they must avoid making clinical judgments. In addition, if they have concerns about medical aspects of a report prepared by the Medical Foundation, they should discuss those concerns with a senior caseworker, who must refer the matter to the foundation, in writing to the legal officer, before reaching a final decision on the asylum claim.

The relevant policy instruction can be found at: www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/asylumpolicy instructions/apis/medicalfoundation.pdf?view=Binary.

There will be some circumstances in which objective medical evidence to support an allegation of torture in the past does not necessarily indicate that an asylum applicant needs our protection from future risk of harm. In these circumstances, the case owner will consider the medical report as one factor in assessing whether an applicant should be recognised as a refugee under the 1951 convention.