Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the loss of specialist teams for unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors on their (a) physical health, (b) mental health and (c) learning and development.

All asylum claims lodged in the UK are carefully considered on their individual merits against a background of relevant case law and up to date country information.

All Decision Makers who process asylum claims from Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children must complete all three Tiers of Keeping Children Safe training before interviewing or deciding claims from Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children.

We are committed to delivering an asylum process that is efficient but also sensitive to the needs of all claimants so that sufficient information can be obtained to facilitate fair and sustainable decisions on their respective asylum claims. Where decision makers have concerns about the welfare of individual claimants then we have clear processes to raise these with the relevant bodies.