Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of whether the companies who own the hotel sites used to accommodate unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have made a profit from this provision in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
UASC being temporarily accommodated in hotels are supported with wrap around care, including from professional care workers, social workers, and nurses. Activity is supported by SACC (Safeguarding Advice and Children’s Champion) a Home Office team led by professional advisers who are registered social workers with extensive strategic and frontline experience in safeguarding the vulnerable.
The Home Office have sole occupancy of all of the hotels in which UASC are temporarily accommodated
Accommodation costs are considered to be commercially confidential, therefore the Home Office does not publish this information.
The average length of time that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children spent in hotels after arriving in the UK during the period from 14 July 2021 to 24 May 2022 was 15.5 days. These figures are taken from a live operational database. As such, numbers may change as information on that system is updated.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if there have been paying guests present in any of the hotel sites used to accommodate unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the last three months.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
UASC being temporarily accommodated in hotels are supported with wrap around care, including from professional care workers, social workers, and nurses. Activity is supported by SACC (Safeguarding Advice and Children’s Champion) a Home Office team led by professional advisers who are registered social workers with extensive strategic and frontline experience in safeguarding the vulnerable.
The Home Office have sole occupancy of all of the hotels in which UASC are temporarily accommodated
Accommodation costs are considered to be commercially confidential, therefore the Home Office does not publish this information.
The average length of time that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children spent in hotels after arriving in the UK during the period from 14 July 2021 to 24 May 2022 was 15.5 days. These figures are taken from a live operational database. As such, numbers may change as information on that system is updated.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who is supervising unaccompanied asylum seeking children placed in hotels; and whether that supervision is 24 hours a day.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
UASC being temporarily accommodated in hotels are supported with wrap around care, including from professional care workers, social workers, and nurses. Activity is supported by SACC (Safeguarding Advice and Children’s Champion) a Home Office team led by professional advisers who are registered social workers with extensive strategic and frontline experience in safeguarding the vulnerable.
The Home Office have sole occupancy of all of the hotels in which UASC are temporarily accommodated
Accommodation costs are considered to be commercially confidential, therefore the Home Office does not publish this information.
The average length of time that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children spent in hotels after arriving in the UK during the period from 14 July 2021 to 24 May 2022 was 15.5 days. These figures are taken from a live operational database. As such, numbers may change as information on that system is updated.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that age assessments are accurate enough to prevent unaccompanied asylum-seeking children being relocated to Rwanda.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Everyone considered for relocations to Rwanda will be screened and have access to legal advice. Decisions will be taken on a case-by-case basis, and nobody will be removed if it is unsafe or inappropriate for them.
The measures the Government is bringing forward through the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 will address the current weaknesses in the age assessment system and ensure decision making is more robust.
Our reforms aim to make assessments more consistent and robust from the outset, with any disputed decisions resolved quickly and conclusively. We will create a power to enable the Home Secretary to introduce secondary legislation specifying scientific techniques of age assessment, which would widen the breadth of evidence on which to base decisions.
We will also establish a decision-making function in the Home Office, referred to as the National Age Assessment Board (NAAB). The NAAB will primarily consist of expert social workers whose task will be to conduct full age assessments, upon referral from a local authority. Local authorities will also retain the ability to conduct age assessments themselves.
We believe the measures we’re planning to introduce will make the system more robust and result in higher quality decisions on people’s age.
As part of these measures, in due course, individuals will also have a full right of appeal (including access to legal aid) to the First Tier Tribunal where they have been assessed as an age other than that claimed. This will provide for independent judicial oversight of the process ensuring the highest standards of decision making are adhered to. In the meantime, individuals will still be able to pursue the existing judicial review process.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) financial support, (b) accommodation and (c) healthcare services are in place in the UK for refugees from Ukraine.
Answered by Kevin Foster
To support Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, the Government has launched the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine Scheme. Under both schemes, those who apply successfully will be granted leave for three years, during which time they can work and access public services, including assistance from local authorities for housing, and they will have access to healthcare.
In addition, under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, sponsors are offered a thank you payment of £350 per month for up to twelve months. The Government will also provide funding of £10,500 per person to local authorities to enable them to provide support to families and integrate them into local communities.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children staring to be looked after by local authorities between 14 July and 22 November 2021 were (a) accommodated in hotels upon or after arriving in the UK, (b) were aged (i) 10 and under and (ii) between 11 and 18 on arrival, (c) assessed by a registered medical practitioner upon arrival in the UK and (e) in receipt of legal advice whilst being housed in a hotel.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children being placed with a local authority between 14 July and 22 November 2021 who have been accommodated in hotels upon or after arriving in the UK is 890. Of these 2 were aged 10 or under and 888 were aged between 11 and 18 on arrival. This is based on local management information and subject to change.
Nurses are on site at the hotels where the young people are assessed and they are also registered with a GP.
Children making an asylum claim in their own right are eligible for assistance in the form of legal aid and the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) will fund a legal representative’s attendance at the substantive interview.
There is no requirement for legal representation at first encounter when the welfare interview is conducted because children should not be asked questions about issues that relate to their asylum claim.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children were accommodated by her Department without a local authority assuming responsibility for them (a) from 14 July 2021 to 22 November 2021 and (b) from 23 November 2021 to present.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children accommodated by the Home Office without a local authority assuming responsibility for them from 14 July 2021 to 22 November 2021 was 890.
The corresponding figure for the period from 23 November 2021 to 22 February 2022 was 361.
The figures are based on local management information and are subject to change.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how many hotels and (b) in what locations does her Department currently have agreements with to provide accommodation for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office currently has four hotel sites available to temporarily accommodate unaccompanied asylum seeking children whilst placements with local authorities are being vigorously pursued via the now mandatory National Transfer Scheme.
These sites are situated along the south coast in close proximity to arrival locations.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the document entitled The UK’s Points-Based Immigration System - Further Details, published 13 July 2020, what steps she will take to prevent employers in the shipping industry from filling vacancies for seafarer occupations that require skills below level 3 of the Regulated Qualifications Framework with migrant workers on rates of pay below the National Living Wage.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The further details statement published on 13 July sets out that employers must undergo checks to demonstrate they are a genuine business, are solvent, and that the roles they wish to recruit into are credible and meet the salary and skills requirements, before they can be granted a licence to sponsor Skilled Workers.
We will conduct regular checks of PAYE records for all skilled workers to confirm they are being paid the correct salary, and take action where necessary.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) what estimate he has made of the number of public spaces protection orders used by local authorities; and (b) what purpose those protection orders were issued.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government introduced Public Spaces Protection Orders through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to enable local authorities to tackle anti-social behaviour in public spaces.
The powers in the 2014 Act are local in nature, and it is for local agencies to determine whether their use is appropriate in the specific circumstances as they are best-placed to understand the needs of their community and the most appropriate response.
The Government does not centrally collate data on the number of public spaces protection orders issued.