Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many recorded diagnoses of malnutrition have occurred among child asylum seekers.

The Home Office does not hold data on diagnoses of malnutrition in the asylum seeking population.

Asylum seekers in contingency accommodation are provided with breakfast, lunch, and evening meals, with a choice of at least one hot and one cold selection, at least one vegetarian option with each main meal and a food service for babies and small children with the appropriate foodstuffs. Food is provided in a location easily accessible to all.

Portion sizes will be in line with the NHS 5-a-day guidelines, available at: 5 A Day portion sizes - NHS (www.nhs.uk). If an asylum seeker would like to discuss their dietary requirements, they are advised and supported to contact Migrant Help.

We continuously look at ways to improve our procedures to ensure we address concerns quickly and effectively; one of the tools we use to achieve this is through our targeted surveys. These are 100% anonymous and available 24/7 in a variety of languages. The Initial Accommodation (IA) survey is aimed at all those who reside in all forms of contingency accommodation and seeks insight on the fundamental aspects of the provision. This includes questions on the accommodation standards and suitability, food offering, information provided.

The Home Office monitors our service providers closely to ensure the requirements we set out in our contracts are being delivered. This includes physically inspecting contingency sites and food provision. The food service at hotels meets appropriate nutritional standards for each menu and satisfies cultural, religious, health or other specific requirements.