Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to bring forward secondary legislation to ensure that children who (a) arrive in the UK without a parent or carer and (b) are entitled to be looked after by local authorities under the Children Act 1989 are (i) provided care and protection as looked after children and (ii) not housed in hotels.
Answered by Brendan Clarke-Smith
We have no plans to bring forward secondary legislation. The Home Office has been temporarily accommodating unaccompanied asylum seeking children in hotels on an emergency basis whilst they await a permanent local authority placement. Since February 2022, all local authorities with children’s services in the UK have been directed to participate in the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) with the aim of ensuring that children are moved out of hotel accommodation and into the care of a local authority as quickly as possible. We have seen an increased rate of transfers since directed transfers under the NTS started. The department and the Home Office are working together on plans to exit the hotels accommodating unaccompanied asylum seeking children as soon as possible.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department has made on the establishment of a National Implementation Board in response to the Independent Review of Children's Care; and if his Department will publish details of the (a) composition and (b) membership of that board.
Answered by Brendan Clarke-Smith
Work is currently underway to establish the National Implementation Board, which will be composed of people with experience of leading transformational change, as well as people with their own experience of the care system. The department will hold the first meeting and commit to publishing a membership list in due course. We have also committed to publishing a readout from each board, which will be made available online.