Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2019 to Question 208875 on Asylum: Children, what independent support his Department provides to a child when a social care team carries out an age assessment test on them.

When there is doubt about the age of an asylum seeker, they will be referred to a local authority for a Merton compliant age assessment - they are treated as a child whilst the outcome is awaited.

In the case of potential victims of trafficking who have been allocated an Independent Child trafficking Advocate (ICTA), they will remain entitled to an ICTA and support under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 while their age remains in doubt.

The Home Office and, if applicable, the ICTA support the local authority age assessment by ensuring that all relevant information is made available to the local authority to support the assessment. Whilst the local authority may take into account information obtained by the Home Office to inform their assess-ment, they will come to their own conclusion in accordance with caselaw.

In addition, the Home Office also provides independent support to all unac-companied asylum-seeking children in England through the Refugee Council’s Children’s Advice Project. The Project’s role is to assist children through the asylum process and their interactions with central and local government organ-isations.