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1138428

registered interest
date	11/07/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children applied for asylum in 2018 whose age was disputed.
tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
uin	276224
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>The Home Office publishes data on the number of age disputes raised for main applicants who claim to be children are available, broken down by nationality for each quarter, in table as_10_q (Asylum, volume 3).</p><p>The latest edition which includes data for 2018 is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-march-2019/list-of-tables" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-march-2019/list-of-tables</a>.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 16/07/2019 10:58:29 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

1138530

registered interest
date	11/07/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate his Department has made of the number of child asylum seekers living in adult accommodation.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	276134
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>Child asylum seekers housed in asylum accommodation only if they are part of a family group. Unaccompanied asylum seeking children are housed by the local authorities.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 16/07/2019 12:39:15 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1138531

registered interest
date	11/07/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many successful appeals on grounds of age were made by asylum seekers who were found to be juveniles in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	276135
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>The exact information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 16/07/2019 12:44:32 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1138532

registered interest
date	11/07/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the need for safeguarding policies to support child asylum seekers erroneously placed in adult removal centres.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	276136
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government ended the routine detention of children in immigration removal centres in 2010. Individuals under the age of 18 are not detained for consideration of their asylum claim.</p><p>In cases where new information comes to light or concerns are raised, which indicate that a person who has been detained as an adult may be a child, we would seek to release them into the care of local authority children’s services at the earliest safe opportunity for an age assessment.</p><p>Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 and published guidance in the form of Detention Services Order (DSO) 19/2012 “Safeguarding Children Policy” and DSO 14/2012 “Care and Management of Age Dispute Cases” set out the legal duties and guidance for staff in the immigration removal estate. This ensures that the welfare of children and their safeguarding is at the forefront of every interaction and decision.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 16/07/2019 10:59:32 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1136338

registered interest
date	02/07/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that children who make an asylum application in the UK are not incorrectly identified as adults.
tabling member constituency	Bedford
tabling member printed	Mohammad Yasin
uin	272267
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2019 answer text <p>Age assessment is a highly complex and challenging area of work. There is no single method or combination of methods which can accurately predict age. The Home Office’s approach reflects our commitment to promote and safeguard the welfare of all children. A key part of this is identifying adults who are seeking to pass themselves off as children and ensuring that children are correctly identified at the earliest opportunity.</p><p>Where clear and credible documentary evidence of age is not available, criteria including physical appearance and demeanour are used as part of the process to assess whether a person is under 18. In these circumstances, the Home Office will treat a person claiming to be a child as an adult only where their physical appearance and demeanour very strongly suggest they are 25 years of age or over.</p><p>When there is doubt about an individual’s claim to be a child, Home Office policy is to refer them to the relevant local authority to carry out a careful “Merton compliant” age assessment, which must be carried out by two social workers and must adhere to guidelines set out by the Courts.</p><p>The Home Office keeps its policies and processes under review and we remain committed to striking the right balance between ensuring that children who claim asylum are appropriately supported and maintaining the integrity of the asylum system by preventing adults being treated as children.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 10/07/2019 15:29:33 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4598 label Biography information for Mohammad Yasin

1134095

registered interest
date	24/06/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for asylum in the UK were made by unaccompanied minors that arrived in the UK by their own means since 2016.
tabling member constituency	Walthamstow
tabling member printed	Stella Creasy
uin	268477
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2019 answer text <p>There were 9,512 applications for asylum made by unaccompanied children in the UK from 1 January 2016 to 31 March 2019. This information is pub-lished by the Home Office in its quarterly Immigration Statistics release. The latest edition can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803159/asylum3-mar-2019-tables.ods." target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803159/asylum3-mar-2019-tables.ods.</a> The exact method of entry for asylum applicants is not recorded in published statistics as it would require an examination of each individual case, which could only be carried out at disproportionate costs.</p><p>The UK recognises its humanitarian responsibilities towards unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children. The Government is fully committed to the timely and efficient operation of the Dublin III Regulation including the provisions determining responsibility for examining the claims of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. The Regulation provides that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are given information on the Dublin procedure by the State in which the child has lodged his or her application, the State in which they are present.</p><p>The Commission’s Regulation implementing Dublin III contains a specific leaflet with information for unaccompanied children pursuant to Article 4 of the Dublin III Regulation EU 604/2013, including that the authorities where the application has been lodged should be told as soon as possible if the child thinks they have family in another Dublin State.</p><p>As part of the Sandhurst Treaty, signed by the UK and France in January 2018, we have allocated £3.6 million to fund the development of the Dublin process to support transfers of eligible children to the UK (including training for those working with unaccompanied children, family tracing and targeted information campaigns). We are also funding access to the French asylum accommodation service, the provision of health services, psychological and legal support as well as the cost of transporting asylum seekers from reception centres to locations where their asylum claims are considered.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 268478 question first answered 27/06/2019 15:31:46 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4088 label Biography information for Stella Creasy

1134096

registered interest
date	24/06/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that unaccompanied children in other EU Member States with family in the UK are informed for their rights to apply for family reunification under EU Regulation 604/2013.
tabling member constituency	Walthamstow
tabling member printed	Stella Creasy
uin	268478
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2019 answer text <p>There were 9,512 applications for asylum made by unaccompanied children in the UK from 1 January 2016 to 31 March 2019. This information is pub-lished by the Home Office in its quarterly Immigration Statistics release. The latest edition can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803159/asylum3-mar-2019-tables.ods." target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803159/asylum3-mar-2019-tables.ods.</a> The exact method of entry for asylum applicants is not recorded in published statistics as it would require an examination of each individual case, which could only be carried out at disproportionate costs.</p><p>The UK recognises its humanitarian responsibilities towards unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children. The Government is fully committed to the timely and efficient operation of the Dublin III Regulation including the provisions determining responsibility for examining the claims of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. The Regulation provides that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are given information on the Dublin procedure by the State in which the child has lodged his or her application, the State in which they are present.</p><p>The Commission’s Regulation implementing Dublin III contains a specific leaflet with information for unaccompanied children pursuant to Article 4 of the Dublin III Regulation EU 604/2013, including that the authorities where the application has been lodged should be told as soon as possible if the child thinks they have family in another Dublin State.</p><p>As part of the Sandhurst Treaty, signed by the UK and France in January 2018, we have allocated £3.6 million to fund the development of the Dublin process to support transfers of eligible children to the UK (including training for those working with unaccompanied children, family tracing and targeted information campaigns). We are also funding access to the French asylum accommodation service, the provision of health services, psychological and legal support as well as the cost of transporting asylum seekers from reception centres to locations where their asylum claims are considered.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 268477 question first answered 27/06/2019 15:31:46 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4088 label Biography information for Stella Creasy

1130996

registered interest
date	10/06/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to identify the age of people placed in care facilities with minors when requesting asylum.
tabling member constituency	South Antrim
tabling member printed	Paul Girvan
uin	262442
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>Where clear and credible documentary evidence of age is not available, criteria including physical appearance and demeanour are used as part of the process to assess whether a person is under 18. The Home Office will treat a person claiming to be a child as an adult only where their physical appearance and demeanour very strongly suggest they are 25 years of age or over.</p><p>When there is doubt about an individual’s claim to be a child, Home Office policy is to refer them to the relevant local authority to carry out a careful “Merton compliant” age assessment, which must be carried out by two social workers and must adhere to guidelines set out by the Courts. Whilst this assessment is ongoing, the local authority or Health and Social Care Trust looking after the individual remains responsible for their care arrangements and the safeguarding of other children in their care.</p><p>The Home Office keeps its policies and processes under review and we remain committed to striking the right balance between ensuring that children who claim asylum are appropriately supported and maintaining the integrity of the asylum system by preventing adults being treated as children.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 17/06/2019 12:09:06 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4633 label Biography information for Paul Girvan

1129115

registered interest
date	03/06/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the age of child asylum seekers is assessed accurately.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	258977
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>Age assessment is a highly complex and challenging area of work. There is no single method or combination of methods which can accurately predict age.</p><p>Where clear and credible documentary evidence of age is not available, criteria including physical appearance and demeanour are used as part of the process to assess whether a person is under 18. When there is doubt about an individual’s claim to be a child, Home Office policy is to refer them to the relevant local authority to carry out a careful “Merton” compliant age assessment. A “Merton compliant” age assessment must be carried out by two social workers and should adhere to guidelines set out by the Courts.</p><p>The Home Office keeps its policies and processes under review and we remain committed to striking the right balance between ensuring that children who claim asylum are appropriately supported and maintaining the integrity of the asylum system by preventing adults being treated as children.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 06/06/2019 14:50:51 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1125840

registered interest
date	09/05/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 8 May (HLWS1504), whether they expect local authorities will offer extra placements to Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC); and whether offers from individual British families to adopt or to foster UASC will be taken up.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL15630
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>The Home Office recognises the highly valuable work that local authorities undertake in supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) and that is why we significantly increased the funding paid as a contribution to their costs. It is hoped that this will enable more local authorities to feel able to offer placements for vulnerable UASC, and we will be working with them and partners to encourage this.</p><p>It is unlikely that adoption will be an appropriate option for unaccompanied children. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees, as well as other humanitarian charities, advise that no new adoption applications should be considered in the period after a disaster or fleeing from war. It is not uncommon for children in these circumstances to be temporarily separated from their parents or other family members who may be looking for them. Efforts to reunite children with relatives or extended family should therefore be given priority.</p><p>Foster parents are recruited by fostering services which include local authorities or independent fostering agencies. The decision to let someone foster a child, including UASC, is a very important one to get right. Anyone who wants to become a foster parent must undergo a full assessment and be approved by a fostering service before any child can be placed in their care. Regulations set out in detail the requirements of the approval process, including the information that must be collected in the assessment and the requirement for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. In 2013 Department for Education streamlined and strengthened the assessment and approval process for foster carers, introducing a two-stage process to ensure efficiency and transparency.</p><p>Existing foster parents may also be able to provide suitable homes for unaccompanied children and over the past two years the Department for Education has funded over 2000 training places for existing foster parents and support workers who wish to care for UASC, with places being prioritised for local authorities participating in the National Transfer Scheme.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 23/05/2019 15:45:23 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton