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1654424

registered interest
date	19/07/2023
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 unaccompanied asylum seeking children who went missing from hotel accommodation remain unaccounted for.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	195165
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2023 answer text <p>The data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured.</p><p>Published data can be found online at: <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets</a></p><p>Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) hotels are temporary accommodation that provide safeguarding for a child until they are ready to be transferred through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) from an entry local authority to another local authority in the UK for ongoing care and support.</p><p>There are no UASC hotels in Scotland.</p><p>We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in emergency interim hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.</p><p>Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. All contingency sites have security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick grouped question UIN 195166 question first answered 05/09/2023 13:01:32 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

1654427

registered interest
date	19/07/2023
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, if she will take steps to publish weekly data on the number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children who are missing from hotel accommodation and unaccounted for.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	195166
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2023 answer text <p>The data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured.</p><p>Published data can be found online at: <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets</a></p><p>Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) hotels are temporary accommodation that provide safeguarding for a child until they are ready to be transferred through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) from an entry local authority to another local authority in the UK for ongoing care and support.</p><p>There are no UASC hotels in Scotland.</p><p>We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in emergency interim hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.</p><p>Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. All contingency sites have security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick grouped question UIN 195165 question first answered 05/09/2023 13:01:32 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

1652731

registered interest
date	13/07/2023
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 from Leicester East constituency were being held in an asylum processing centre on 1 July 2023.
tabling member constituency	Leicester East
tabling member printed	Claudia Webbe
uin	194085
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2023 answer text <p>There are no asylum processing centres in the United Kingdom.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick grouped question UIN 194086 question first answered 21/07/2023 12:22:52 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4848 label Biography information for Claudia Webbe

1650813

registered interest
date	06/07/2023
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, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2023 to Question 191108 on Asylum: Children, whether she made an assessment before November 2021 of the potential merits of introducing legislation to give Ministers power to direct a local authority in England to provide accommodation to an unaccompanied child; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	192817
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2023 answer text <p>The rise in the number of small boat crossings in recent years has placed significant pressures on local authority care placements for young people. Out of necessity, and with the best interests of the child in mind, we have had no alternative but to maintain the temporarily use of hotels to give some unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) a roof over their heads whilst local authority accommodation is found.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Since 15 February 2022, all local authorities with children’s services in the UK have been directed to participate in the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) to ensure UASC receive the critical care they need. We have also offered incentivised funding to local authorities to move these young people in the care system.</p><p> </p><p>Between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2023, the NTS transferred 4,875 children to local authorities with children’s services which is over six times the number of transfers in the same time frame in previous years (between October 2019 – June 2021 there were 793 transfers).</p><p> </p><p>We are taking a new power in the Illegal Migration Bill to provide or arrange for the provision of accommodation for unaccompanied children. We are also taking a power to direct a local authority in England to provide accommodation to an unaccompanied child, reflecting our position that any time spent in Home Office accommodation should be temporary.</p><p> </p><p>Responsibilities under the Children Act 1989 which apply to local authorities in England with respect to unaccompanied children in their area applied before November 2021 and continue to apply.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 14/07/2023 13:35:31 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1649691

registered interest
date	03/07/2023
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 under (a) 18, (b) 16, (c) 14 and (d) 11 years old have been placed in Home Office arranged hotel accommodation for unaccompanied asylum seeking children (i) in Brighton and Hove (ii) in the UK since July 2021.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	192061
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2023 answer text <p>There has been a significant increase in the numbers of young people making unnecessary and dangerous journeys to the UK and the Home Office has had no alternative but to temporarily use hotels in order to give some unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) emergency accommodation and support while permanent accommodation with a local authority is identified. We are determined to end the use of hotels for these young people and Home Office officials are working tirelessly with local authorities to move children into care placements through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS).</p><p>We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in emergency interim hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.</p><p>Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. All contingency sites have security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.</p><p>The NTS has seen 4,875 children transferred to local authorities with children’s services between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2023, which is over six times the number of transfers in the same time frame in previous years, (October 2019 – June 2021 there were 793 transfers).</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 11/07/2023 15:36:01 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1648074

registered interest
date	27/06/2023
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, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June to Question 189803 on Asylum: Children and with reference to oral evidence given by ECPAT UK and Barnardos to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 21 June 2023, how many unaccompanied asylum seeking children (a) were being accommodated in Home Office hotels and (b) remained missing from Home Office hotels on 26 June.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	191311
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2023 answer text <p>We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.</p><p>Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. All contingency sites have security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.</p><p>There were 154 Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) missing as of 8 June 2023. The further data requested cannot be provided as it is from live operational databases, not published data.</p><p>If any child goes missing, including an accompanied asylum seeking child, the MARS (Missing After Reasonable Steps) protocol is followed. A multi-agency, missing persons meeting is chaired by the local authority to establish the young person's whereabouts and to ensure that they are safe. Similar protocols within police forces have safely reduced the number of missing episodes from placements by 36%.</p><p>The Home Office continue to work with the police and local authorities to ensure the children in our care are safe. The police are responsible for locating any missing children.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 03/07/2023 16:46:41 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

1648079

registered interest
date	27/06/2023
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 she has made of the adequacy of the (a) capacity to inspect hotels housing unaccompanied children and (b) child safeguarding expertise of (i) Ofsted and (ii) the independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	191275
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2023 answer text <p>Ofsted assisted the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) in the inspection on the use of hotels for housing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) due to their expertise in child safeguarding. The inspection found that ‘unanimously’ the young people accommodated at the interim hotels reported feeling ‘happy and safe’.</p><p> </p><p>We are taking a new power in the Illegal Migration Bill to provide or arrange for the provision of accommodation for unaccompanied children. Our policy intention is to ensure that whilst time in this accommodation is expected to be short, we will be seeking to meet standards which are appropriate for the accommodation so that children are sufficiently supported and safeguarded.</p><p> </p><p>We are working closely with the Department for Education and relevant stakeholders on the appropriate standards which should apply. With regards to inspection, we expect to be transparent in allowing scrutiny of our accommodation linked to any agreed appropriate standards.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 05/07/2023 16:42:51 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1648109

registered interest
date	27/06/2023
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, if she will publish weekly statistics on the number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children accommodated in hotels.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
uin	191330
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2023 answer text <p>We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.</p><p>Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. All contingency sites have security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.</p><p>We do not plan to publish weekly statistics on the number of children accommodated in hotels.</p><p>The National Transfer Scheme has seen 4,875 children transferred to local authorities with children’s services between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2023, which is over six times the number of transfers in the same time frame in previous years, (October 2019 – June 2021 there were 793 transfers).</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 11/07/2023 15:52:04 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

1647854

registered interest
date	26/06/2023
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, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2023 to Question 149437 on Asylum: Children, for what reason she has not provided the specific information requested with reference to page 10 of the National Transfer Scheme Protocol for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children, Version 4.0, asking what proportion of transfers under the National Transfer Scheme for unaccompanied asylum seeking children not in the care of a local authority are taking place within five working days of a referral; if she will provide a response to that question; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	191104
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2023 answer text <p>The rise in the number of small boat crossings has placed significant pressures on local authority care placements for young people. Out of necessity, and with the best interests of the child in mind, we have had no alternative but to temporarily use hotels to give unaccompanied children a roof over their heads whilst local authority accommodation is found.</p><p>As set out in the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) protocol on 24 August 2022 the transfer timeframe was reduced to five working days for all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children transferring from interim hotels not currently in the care of a local authority. Based on local management information, approximately half of all children transfer within 5 days.</p><p>The NTS has seen 4,875 children transferred to local authorities with children’s services between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2023, which is over six times the number of transfers in the same time frame in previous years. (October 2019 – June 2021 there were 793 transfers). The time it takes for a local authority to identify a placement varies and has meant some children experience delays in transferring. Where there are significant delays we will look to move the child to Kent County Council’s Reception and Safe Care Service or reallocate the child to a different local authority. Delays may also occur where a child refuses to transfer to the placement. Social workers from the emergency hotels and local authorities work close with the children to encourage them to take the offered placement.</p><p>The safety and wellbeing of those in our care is our primary concern. Robust safeguarding and welfare procedures are in place to ensure all children are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority. This includes support workers being onsite in the hotels 24 hours a day, supported by nurses and social workers. UASC are not detained and are free to leave the accommodation. All contingency sites have security staff and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 04/07/2023 16:36:16 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1647857

registered interest
date	26/06/2023
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, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2023 to Question 132332 on Asylum: Children, whether each unaccompanied asylum seeking child on arrival at their accommodation will be explicitly informed (a) that they will not be sent to Rwanda, (b) of their rights as a child seeking asylum in the UK, (c) of the risks to them of people seeking to exploit children staying in asylum hotels, (d) of advice to stay safe and (e) about how to seek help if in difficulty; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	191105
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2023 answer text <p>Hotel accommodation is only ever a temporary means to accommodate the increased number of arriving unaccompanied children, in advance of them entering local authority care. Unaccompanied children are accommodated in hotels for the shortest time possible. No decisions on their immigration status or asylum claims are taken until they are in local authority care.</p><p>We take the welfare of those in our care extremely seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) temporarily accommodated in hotels are safe and supported whilst we seek urgent placements with a local authority. The young people are given briefings on a range of issues around how to stay safe including (but not limited to), knife crime, drugs and alcohol and water safety.</p><p>All contingency sites have security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick question first answered 04/07/2023 16:37:51 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas