Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total cost per night, including the cost of safeguarding, of placing an unaccompanied child seeking asylum in a hotel while waiting for a local authority placement.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The cost of accommodating unaccompanied asylum seeking children is subject to change depending on the numbers being accommodated. Accommodation costs are considered to be commercially confidential, therefore the Home Office does not publish this information. However, total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ho-annual-reports-and-accounts
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people who arrived in the UK by small boats in each of the last three years claimed asylum based on their (1) sexual orientation, or (2) gender identity; and of those, how many have been granted refugee status.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office publishes data on small boat arrivals in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK’ release. Data on asylum applications from small boat arrivals and initial decisions on these applications can be found in tables Irr_D02 and Irr_D03 respectively of the ‘irregular migration detailed datasets’. Please note that information on the basis of the asylum claim (e.g. sexual orientation or gender identity) is not published.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relate to the year ending June 2023.
Additionally, data on asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation can be found in tables SOC_00, SOC_01 and SOC_02 of the ‘asylum and resettlement datasets’, as part of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Please note that this data is not broken down by method of arrival to the UK (i.e. small boats). The latest data relate to 2022.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government in the past two years how many children who have arrived in the UK unaccompanied and seeking asylum, who have had their age verified, and who have been placed in hotels provided by the Home Office while waiting to be placed with a local authority, were aged: (1) under 5 years, (2) 5 years old, (3) 6 years old, (4) 7 years old, (5) 8 years old, (6) 9 years old, (7) 10 years old, (8) 11 years old, (9) 12 years old, (10) 13 years old, (11) 14 years old, (12) 15 years old, and (13) 16 years old.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
We take the safety and welfare of those in our care, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, extremely seriously. Any unaccompanied child who enters the UK via small boat and claims to be under the age of 18 will go through an age assessment process, unless they are clearly a child. Following an initial age determination which is undertaken by Home Office officials, anyone accepted as under 18 years old will be processed as a child. If officials cannot be sure a person is significantly over 18 years old, the Home Office will treat the person as a child pending further in-depth assessment.
We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in hotels are as safe and supported as possible as we seek urgent placements with a local authority. No individuals, apart from the unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, are residing at any of the hotels ring-fenced for children.
All individuals working directly with the young people accommodated at the hotels have Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks, and all those working and operating on the hotel sites have DBS clearance. The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) found that the young people accommodated at the hotels unanimously reported feeling happy and safe.
The data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 20 July (HL9141), why they do not hold records that would enable them to answer parliamentary questions on the age of the youngest unaccompanied child seeking asylum that has been placed in a hotel.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
We take the safety and welfare of those in our care, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, extremely 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.
No individuals, apart from the unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, are residing at any of the hotels ring-fenced for children.
Children 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.
All individuals working directly with the young people accommodated at the hotels have Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks, and all those working and operating on the hotel sites have DBS clearance. The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) found that the young people accommodated at the hotels unanimously reported feeling happy and safe.
We do hold records however, the data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether it is their current policy to place unaccompanied children seeking asylum, who are waiting for placement with a local authority, in hotels; and, if so, how many are placed in hotels.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Hotel accommodation is a temporary means to accommodate the increased number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) arriving and is only ever a contingency option, not a long-term solution.
The high number of UASC arrivals, particularly as a result of small boat crossings, has placed unprecedented pressure on the National Transfer Scheme. Out of necessity we accommodated UASC on an emergency and temporary basis in hotels while placements with local authorities have been vigorously pursued. The High Court recently ruled that the routine and systematic use of hotels to accommodate UASC is unlawful, and we are working at pace with Kent County Council, other government departments and local authorities across the UK to ensure suitable local authority placements are provided for unaccompanied children urgently and sustainably.
We 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. As a result of incentivised funding, we were able to temporarily reduce the number of unaccompanied children accommodated in hotels to zero. This was the second funding pilot run by the Home Office in 2022/23 to help local authorities invest in longer term infrastructure for accommodating and supporting unaccompanied children. Ending the use of hotels for UASC is an absolute priority and we will continue to work around the clock with councils to increase the number of care placements available.
The data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many unaccompanied children seeking asylum have been housed in Home Office temporary hotels in the past 18 months; and of those, how many were aged between (1) five and nine, (2) 10 and 13, and (3) 14 and 16.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
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.
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.
The data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the age of youngest unaccompanied child seeking asylum who has been housed in a Home Office temporary hotel; and how long that child was housed there for.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
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. 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.
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).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.
The data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, since 7 March, any individuals entering the UK to seek asylum by irregular routes have been held in detention; and if so, how many.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office does not publish data on people entering detention broken down by arrival route.
The Home Office publishes statistics on people entering detention in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release on gov.uk. The number of people entering detention can be broken down by asylum and non-asylum-related cases in table Det_01 of the detention summary tables.
The latest data relates to the end of March 2023. Data up to the end of June 2023 will be published on 24 August 2023.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what grants they provided to the Church of England in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Information on all Government grants to the Church of England is not held centrally by the department. The Government does not routinely pay the Church of England, though it may provide grants to its constituent entities or affiliated organisations via a range of funding programmes, including to deliver on some of the Government's objectives.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Scott of Bybrook on 17 May (HL Deb col 251), what discussions they have had with the Tees Valley Mayor about the Redcar Steelworks sites and the Government implementing section 6(3)(d) of the National Audit Act 1983; and whether they plan to implement that section with the agreement of local authorities.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
On 24 May the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities wrote to the Mayor of Tees Valley, Ben Houchen, confirming that he had taken the exceptional decision to support the commissioning of an independent review to consider the specific allegations made and Tees Valley Combined Authority’s oversight of the South Tees Development Corporation and Teesworks joint venture. A copy of his letter has been placed in the House of Commons Library and has also been published on Gov.uk. Furthermore, on 25 May, a Written Ministerial Statement from the Minister for Local Government, Lee Rowley, was made in the house detailing the exceptional decision taken by the Secretary of State and that the Terms of Reference and appointments to undertake the Review will be announced shortly.
The Tees Valley Mayor approached Government some time ago regarding the possibility of an independent review of STDC and Teesworks to address allegations which he was concerned could have a damaging effect on investment and job creation across Teesside.
The Secretary of State considered calls for such an investigation to be led by the National Audit Office. It is not the NAO’s role to audit or examine individual local government bodies and its powers would not normally be used for that purpose. As the letter to the Mayor confirms, the Secretary of State does not think it would be appropriate to expand so significantly the role of the NAO by asking them to lead an inquiry. The Secretary of State has stated that he would welcome the NAO updating its previous review of Government’s funding arrangements for the South Tees Development Corporation.
The Government intends to publish detailed terms of reference for the independent review shortly and confirm the appointments to the review Panel.