Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children initially relocated to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 have subsequently been reunited with family members; and whether those relocations will be included in the specified number of 480 children to be transferred under section 67 of that Act.

The Dublin Regulation establishes a clear mechanism for unaccompanied children who have claimed asylum in another EU Member State to be transferred here to have their asylum claim assessed if they have a qualifying family member legally present in the UK, and where transfer is in the child’s best interests.

Unaccompanied children who are relocated to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 are placed in the care of a local authority. Any child relocated under section 67 occupying a space offered by a local authority will count towards the specified number of 480. Local authorities will review a child’s care needs on an ongoing basis. If a child has relatives in the UK, the local authority may subsequently decide that placement with that family is in the child’s best interests. However, this is a decision for local authorities, not the Home Office.