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1652151

registered interest
date	11/07/2023
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many unaccompanied children seeking asylum remain in hotels, prior to placement with Local Authorities.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL9255
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2023 answer text <p>The data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured.</p><p>There has been a significant increase in the numbers of young people making unnecessary and dangerous journeys to the UK. 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.</p><p>We are determined to end the use of hotels for these young people and Home Office officials work tirelessly with local authorities to move children into care placements through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS).</p><p>To help achieve this, we have provided local authorities with children’s services £15,000 for every eligible young person taken into their care from a Home Office-run hotel dedicated to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children or the Kent Reception and Safe Care Service by the end of February 2023.</p> answering member printed Lord Murray of Blidworth question first answered 25/07/2023 15:09:36 answering member 4950 label Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1646833

registered interest
date	22/06/2023
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to locate unaccompanied children who arrived in the UK since July 2021 who were placed in hotels in Kent and Sussex who have subsequently gone missing.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL8723
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2023 answer text <p>Police forces are responsible for locating missing children, in their region, in line with standard processes for any missing child in the UK.</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 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>If any child including unaccompanied asylum seeking children, goes missing the MARS (Missing After Reasonable Steps) protocol is followed. The local authority will work with multiple agencies 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> answering member printed Lord Murray of Blidworth question first answered 06/07/2023 11:44:36 answering member 4950 label Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1580947

registered interest
date	25/01/2023
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to provide independent guardians or advocates for all migrant children separated from their parents; if so, when they expect this to be offered throughout England and Wales; and whether specialist foster parents will be available.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL5076
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/02/2023 answer text <p>This Government takes its responsibility for the welfare of migrant children very seriously. We have comprehensive statutory and policy safeguards in place for caring for and safeguarding unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC).</p><p>Social workers and the courts are best placed to make decisions for vulnerable children, in consideration of all the factors involved in often complex cases. Children should be cared for in a way that recognises and respects their identity and carers should be given the training and support they need to meet the child’s needs.</p><p>Local authorities are responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, including their mental health and emotional wellbeing needs, regardless of their immigration status. Independent Child Trafficking Guardians (ICTGs) are provided in addition to this statutory support and are an additional source of advice and support for potentially trafficked children, irrespective of nationality, and somebody who can advocate on their behalf.</p><p>Due to the specialist nature of the ICTG service there is currently no intention to expand the scope to include all young asylum-seeking children in England and Wales whether or not they are separated from their parents.</p><p>There are other provisions already in place to provide support for migrant children. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children can access legal advice from qualified legal representatives and, in England, independent advice and assistance on the asylum process and in their interactions with government agencies is available from the Refugee Council’s Independent Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children Support Service (IUSS).</p> answering member printed Lord Murray of Blidworth question first answered 08/02/2023 17:56:31 answering member 4950 label Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1542559

registered interest
date	15/11/2022
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 His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the practice of placing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in hotels, with little or no supervision.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL3420
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2022 answer text <p>The UK is experiencing an unprecedented increase in the number of people making life-threatening journeys to cross the Channel. These boats are often carrying unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC). Out of necessity and with the children’s best interests in mind, we have arranged for them to be accommodated on an emergency and temporary basis in hotels whilst placements with local authorities are being vigorously pursued. These emergency interim hotels only accommodate unaccompanied asylum seeking children.</p><p>We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children accommodated temporarily in these hotels are as safe and supported as possible whilst we seek urgent placements with a local authority. Young people are supported with wrap-around care 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.</p> answering member printed Lord Murray of Blidworth question first answered 29/11/2022 17:50:02 answering member 4950 label Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1284665

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
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 how many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children reached Britain in each of the last three years; and what plans they have to ensure the (1) identification, (2) safety, and (3) wellbeing, of these children.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL13095
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/02/2021 answer text <p>The number of unaccompanied children who make asylum claims is published in the quarterly immigration statistics. The latest statistics can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets#asylum-applications-decisions-and-resettlement</p><p>Protecting vulnerable children is a key priority for the Government and the Home Office takes its responsibility for the welfare of children very seriously. Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 requires the Secretary of State to make arrangements for ensuring that immigration, asylum and nationality functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are in the UK.</p><p>All Home Office staff with responsibility for interviewing and making decisions on asylum claims from children will have received specific training as a precursor to considering claims from children.</p><p>In line with our published guidance on handling asylum claims from children, once a child is encountered, the relevant local authority children’s services will be contacted and informed of the arrival and a referral made. Any modern slavery or urgent welfare concerns must be dealt with as a matter of priority.</p><p>Thereafter Home Office staff have an ongoing obligation to escalate any welfare concerns they have to the local authority children’s services throughout the course of the asylum process. In 2019, the UK received more asylum applications from unaccompanied children than any other country in Europe.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 22/02/2021 17:26:50 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton