Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of her Department's age-assessment process for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children; and what steps she is taking to ensure that children are treated as children unless evidence proves otherwise.

Assessing the age of unaccompanied children is an incredibly complex and difficult task, and the Home Office is currently assessing which scientific methods and artificial intelligence can best improve age assessment methods. The Government will inform Parliament of any decisions on this policy area in due course.

All policy development is carried out with regard to section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 and the best interests of the child.