Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what type of education provision is being provided for non-UK nationals who are children at (a) Dungavel and (b) other immigration removal centres.

As stated in response to the honourable member’s question of 7 June 2019 [261289], the UK ended the routine detention of children in immigration removal centres in 2010, and enshrined this in law under the Immigration Act 2014. There remain limited circumstances where, very exceptionally, unaccompanied children may be detained in the absence of suitable alternatives.

A range of educational resources and other welfare services are provided to families with children in detention. The short time that families spend at the dedicated family accommodation near Gatwick means that formal education is not provided. The most recent Independent Monitoring Board report for the centre praised the learning equipment provided to children during their short stay.