Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the report 'Deaths of unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people in the care of, or supported by, local authorities' by Da’aro Youth Project.

We welcome the report of the Da’aro Youth Project. The Home Secretary engages regularly with ministerial colleagues across government on a range of issues relating to asylum, including safeguarding and the welfare of vulnerable individuals.

Last month, the Department for Education (DfE) launched a review into care leaver deaths, and deaths of young people who were unaccompanied asylum seeking children are being considered as part of this. Insights from the review will be shared later this year and will inform how DfE improve the support provided to care experienced young people across all aspects of their lives – including those who were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children

The Home Office works closely with the Department for Education at both ministerial and official level to support effective safeguarding arrangements and share information on risks affecting asylum seekers.

Where an individual is in the care of a local authority as a looked after child under its statutory duties in the Children Act 1989, that authority is responsible for considering and addressing all relevant matters linked to those duties, including risk assessment and safeguarding.