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<p>e Home Office takes our duty of care towards children and young people extremely
seriously, and we prioritise applications from children and young people.</p><p>The
Home Office does not publish the data requested. However we are able to provide data
on the number of initial decisions on asylum applications from unaccompanied asylum-seeking
children (UASC), which can be found in the latest Immigration statistics, year ending
September 2022: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2022/list-of-tables#asylum-and-resettlement"
target="_blank">List of tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).</a></p><p>UASC generally enter
the care system to be accommodated and supported by a local authority as looked after
children. The Home Office budget provides significant support to local authorities
in this area in addition to existing local Government funding. The latest published
statistics from the Department for Education, for the year ending 31 March 2022, show
there were 5,540 UASC being cared for in England alone, an increase of 34% from the
previous reporting year. This does not include the high intake seen this summer.</p><p>The
Home Office has a comprehensive training programme and mentoring framework in place
for all asylum decision makers. Decision makers who specifically deal with children’s
claims complete an additional training on Keeping Children Safe and have an additional
period of mentoring.</p><p> </p><p>Our aim is for Asylum Casework to have 2,500 caseworkers
by August 2023, with around 10% dedicated to children's casework and we have recruitment
plans in place to ensure we reach those numbers.</p><p> </p><p>The Nationality and
Borders Act 2022 (NABA) came into force on 28 June 2022. In accordance with NABA,
all new asylum claims made on or after 28 June 2022 will be considered and processed
under the new legislation, whilst existing claims will be worked through under previous
legislation and asylum policies.</p><p> </p><p>The Asylum Casework team are working
to reintroduce service standards and are aligning with changes being introduced through
the NABA. Our intention to reintroduce service standards aligns with the recommendation
from the recent Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s (ICIBI) published
report - An inspection of asylum casework (November 2021). The re-induction will also
include children’s asylum claims.</p>
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