Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of COVID-19 on (1) the level of child trafficking in the UK, and (2) their efforts to combat such trafficking.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
This Government is committed to protecting those at risk from abuse and exploitation, including during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Home Office publishes statistics on National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals on a quarterly basis, and reports up to Q3 2020 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics
NRM referrals for individuals who were potentially exploited as children for quarter 1 (January to March), quarter 2 (April to June) and quarter 3 of 2020 (July to September) were 1,237, 1,274 and 1,159 respectively. Quarter 4 statistics (October to December 2020) are being prepared and the release date will be confirmed here. national referral - Research and statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
During the Covid-19 pandemic, NRM referral rates may have been affected by a number of factors. This includes reduced levels of travel from other countries to the UK, and lockdown measures in the UK meaning victims have been less likely to interact with First Responders.
The Home Office recognises victims are coming into contact with different services during the pandemic and we have worked to raise awareness of the indicators of modern slavery with the providers of these services to ensure victims continue to be identified and supported.
The Home Office continues to work with a range of partners to identify and deliver effective prevention activity. This includes successful awareness raising initiatives such as the Government’s ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ campaign and the #SlaveryonYourDoorstep campaign led by CrimeStoppers. We also have a dedicated GOV.UK resources page that provides up-to-date information on how to spot the signs of modern slavery and report concerns.
Throughout the pandemic, we have worked closely with law enforcement partners to monitor risks and ensure that social distancing measures do not impede their ability to carry out work to prevent and tackle crime or prevent victims coming forward.
Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they published their most recent strategy on the prevention of modern slavery.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The UK is regarded as a world-leader for its response to modern slavery. The UK response is underpinned by the Modern Slavery Strategy 2014 and the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the first legislation of its kind. The Modern Slavery Strategy 2014 is structured around a ‘four Ps’ framework including a strategic pillar on prevent.
The Home Office continues to work with a range of partners to identify and deliver effective prevention activity. This included successful awareness raising initiatives such as the Government’s ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ campaign, as well as training for frontline responders to better prevent and spot the signs of modern slavery. We also have a dedicated GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/modern-slavery-training-resource-page/modern-slavery-training-resource-page) resources page that provides up-to-date information on how to spot the signs of modern slavery and report concerns.
In addition, HMG is investing £10m to fund Modern Slavery Policy and Evidence Centre to bring together and commission innovative research to enhance the evidence base on modern slavery, including on strengthening prevention initiatives.
Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to prevent re-trafficking of (1) known, or (2) suspected, victims of trafficking and modern slavery.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The UK government is committed to tackling the heinous crime of modern slavery and is working in a number of ways, both in the UK and upstream, to prevent re-trafficking.
Support provided through the National Referral Mechanism for potential and confirmed victims of modern slavery identified in the UK aims to protect individuals from further harm and prevent possible re-trafficking.
In addition, the UK has strong relationships with a number of countries from where many victims originate and is working with them to provide a range of support for victims, including reintegration, as well as awareness raising and operational capacity building activity to prevent trafficking from occurring. For example, our ODA-funded Modern Slavery Fund provides a range of essential support including direct assistance via shelters and medical aid, to economic skills training and raised awareness of risks.
Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in cases where a child awaiting a National Referral Mechanism (NRM) decision has been reported missing and does not return within 48 hours, how long is the NRM case file held open for before it is suspended.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
When the Single Competent Authority becomes aware that an individual is missing, their National Referral Mechanism (NRM) case can be suspended unless there is already sufficient information available on which to make a decision. Suspended cases can be reopened at any time.
Sections 14.194 - 14.204 of the Modern Slavery: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and Non-Statutory Guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland Version 2.0 sets out the actions the SCA takes when suspending a case.
The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics regarding the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) the latest published NRM statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics. However, the statistics do not currently contain data on the number of cases suspended prior to a Conclusive Grounds decision.
Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many adult trafficking cases in the National Referral Mechanism have been suspended before a conclusive decision was made in the past three years.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
When the Single Competent Authority becomes aware that an individual is missing, their National Referral Mechanism (NRM) case can be suspended unless there is already sufficient information available on which to make a decision. Suspended cases can be reopened at any time.
Sections 14.194 - 14.204 of the Modern Slavery: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and Non-Statutory Guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland Version 2.0 sets out the actions the SCA takes when suspending a case.
The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics regarding the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) the latest published NRM statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics. However, the statistics do not currently contain data on the number of cases suspended prior to a Conclusive Grounds decision.
Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many child trafficking cases in the National Referral Mechanism have been suspended before a conclusive decision was made in the past three years.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
When the Single Competent Authority becomes aware that an individual is missing, their National Referral Mechanism (NRM) case can be suspended unless there is already sufficient information available on which to make a decision. Suspended cases can be reopened at any time.
Sections 14.194 - 14.204 of the Modern Slavery: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and Non-Statutory Guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland Version 2.0 sets out the actions the SCA takes when suspending a case.
The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics regarding the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) the latest published NRM statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics. However, the statistics do not currently contain data on the number of cases suspended prior to a Conclusive Grounds decision.
Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they regularly (1) collect, and (2) assess, data from all relevant local authorities relating to the placement of children and young people in unregulated accommodation.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Information on children who are looked after by local authorities (including information on placement setting) is submitted to the department by local authorities on an annual basis. The latest collection, which closed in August 2020, related to children who were looked after during the year 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.
The latest information on children looked after in England, including the number of looked after children placed in independent and semi-independent placements on 31 March 2020, is contained in the ‘Children looked after in England’ statistics release, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions. Information on numbers of looked after children by type of placement can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/9fb76a8e-ab86-4746-871a-925810cfb302.
Children in care and care leavers are some of the most vulnerable children and young people in society. We must do all that we can to ensure that they have access to suitable, safe and secure accommodation that meets their needs and keeps them safe. Our consultation on unregulated provision for children in care and care leavers asked for views on a set of ambitious proposals to reform unregulated provision for children in care and care leavers, including banning the placement of children under the age of 16 in these settings and introducing national standards for providers to drive up quality, keeping young people safer and delivering better outcomes.
The consultation received a strong response from the sector, and care-experienced young people. We will publish the government’s response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of (1) pubs, (2) cafes, and (3) restaurants, which fail to record customer contact details for NHS Test and Trace.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Designated venues, including hospitality businesses, must collect contact details of staff, customers and visitors and provide a National Health Service QR code for individuals to check in to the venue using the COVID-19 app. Local health protection teams can ask the venue for these records where it is necessary, for example if the premises has been identified as the location of a potential outbreak. Venues must share the requested information as soon as possible to help identify people who may have been in contact with the virus and help minimise the onward spread. NHS Test and Trace does not collect this data unless it is necessary for contact tracing following an identified outbreak.
In a recent poll 76% of visitors to restaurants, cafes and pubs stated they were asked to provide their details or scan an NHS QR code on entry. We continue to engage with business and enforcement officials to work towards 100% compliance.
Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many unaccompanied Albanian children have been granted discretionary leave to remain in each of the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum applications and grants of extensions in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release).
Data on the number of asylum applications from unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC), and the initial decision on such applications are published in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets), which include nationality breakdowns. Asy_D02 can be broken down to show grants of discretionary leave (DL) following an asylum application but does not show any grants of DL from non-asylum routes.
Data on the number of non-asylum related grants of discretionary leave granted in-country are published in tables Exe_D01 of the extensions detailed datasets (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/managed-migration-datasets), which include nationality breakdowns. Exe_D01 can be broken down to show grants of DL but does not show the reason for the grant, or whether the grant was to an unaccompanied child
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relate up to September 2020. Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in both the asylum and resettlement and extensions ‘summary tables’. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on asylum and resettlement and extensions.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ (https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?keywords=immigration&content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=relevance).
The data from the tables mentioned above are outlined below.
Table 1 – The number of asylum applications the UK has received from Albanian Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) in the last three years and 2020 to date.
Year | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 (Jan to Sep) |
Albanian UASC Applications | 265 | 293 | 238 | 67 |
Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics year ending September 2020 Asylum and Resettlement Table Asy_D01
Table 2 – The number of Albanian UASC granted discretionary leave (DL) at initial decision following an application for asylum in the last three years and 2020 to date.
Year | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 (Jan to Sep) |
Albanian UASC granted DL | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics year ending September 2020 Asylum and Resettlement Table Asy_D02
Table 3 – The number of Albanians granted non-asylum related discretionary leave (DL) in the last three years and 2020 to date.
Year | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 (Jan to Sep) |
Albanians granted DL | 55 | 56 | 18 | 12 |
Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics year ending September 2020 Extensions Table Exe_D01
Notes:
The data on Discretionary Leave (DL) in the extensions dataset include all grants of discretionary leave to remain to non-EEA nationals except those granted DL following an asylum claim.
Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many unaccompanied Albanian children have claimed asylum in the UK in each of the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Table 1 – The number of asylum applications the UK has received from Albanian Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) in the last three years and 2020 to date.
Year | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 (Jan to Sep) |
Albanian UASC Applications | 265 | 293 | 238 | 67 |
Note:
Data for UASC provide a count of asylum applications received from main applicants who are treated as an unaccompanied child for at least one day from the date of application, up until the initial decision (where applicable), even if they are later persons found to be an adult following an age dispute. As a result, some UASC cases relate to over 18.
The Home Office publishes data on asylum applications in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release). Data on the number of asylum applications from unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC), and the initial decision on such applications are published in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets), which include nationality breakdowns. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relate up to September 2020. Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the ‘summary tables’ (see attached). The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on asylum and resettlement.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ (https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?keywords=immigration&content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=relevance).