Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to recent reports of the abduction of unaccompanied children from a Home Office residence in Hove, what training was provided to security staff contracted by her Department to manage the security of those children.

We take the safety and welfare of those in our care, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, extremely seriously.

Contracted security staff within UASC hotels complete comprehensive training.

The wellbeing of children is our number one priority and our accommodation providers are required to ensure accommodation is safe and in line with contractual requirements.

Home Office Safeguarding Hub works closely with accommodation providers to ensure early identification of vulnerabilities, where issues are not disclosed by customers, and onward referral to the statutory agencies of health, police, and social services.