Children Seeking Asylum
Debate between Baroness Brinton and Lord Gascoigne
Lord Gascoigne (Con)
I thank the noble Baroness for her question. I hope I do not damage her street cred by saying that I am an admirer of hers and that she has always been very courteous to me outside the Chamber—I hope that that continues in the Chamber.
Forgive me, my Lords, but it is worth making the point that this has all been in response to a rise in the number of illegal boat crossings since 2021, to ensure that the well-being of children and others is put first. The situation in the hotels is in response to that rise in numbers. The court case—the judicial review—is something that we are looking at, and we are considering the judgment that has just been handed down. It is worth saying that obviously we take any missing child extremely seriously; there are safeguarding procedures in place to ensure that, in those circumstances, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are located. Some have gone missing and have subsequently been located. I appreciate this is a long answer but one statistic it is worth giving is that, as of 1 December, there was a total of 472 episodes of missing children, and the total subsequently located was 340; the total number of individuals still missing is 132. This data is sourced from Home Office operational databases and does not form part of our regular statistical outputs, hence why I think there may have been some issues. I hope that by providing it now it is useful.
Baroness Brinton (LD) [V]
My Lords, as the right reverend Prelate has said, in September, at the High Court hearing, the Home Office agreed a grant of £9.75 million to help Kent County Council manage the maximum number of children it should have in its care; that was 346. However, it was reported last week that the Home Office has still not agreed the funding and, worse, that the actual number of children that Kent County Council is looking after is currently 519. When will the Government deliver on their promise, and also ensure that Kent County Council gets the support it needs from the Home Office?
Lord Gascoigne (Con)
I thank the noble Baroness for her question. I think it is similar to one I received earlier and I am more than happy to take it away. We will continue to work with Kent County Council to tackle the issue. I do not have the answer in front of me, but I am more than happy to take that away to the department after Questions.