Asylum: Children

(asked on 5th September 2023) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether it is their current policy to place unaccompanied children seeking asylum, who are waiting for placement with a local authority, in hotels; and, if so, how many are placed in hotels.


This question was answered on 18th September 2023

Hotel accommodation is a temporary means to accommodate the increased number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) arriving and is only ever a contingency option, not a long-term solution.

The high number of UASC arrivals, particularly as a result of small boat crossings, has placed unprecedented pressure on the National Transfer Scheme. Out of necessity we accommodated UASC on an emergency and temporary basis in hotels while placements with local authorities have been vigorously pursued. The High Court recently ruled that the routine and systematic use of hotels to accommodate UASC is unlawful, and we are working at pace with Kent County Council, other government departments and local authorities across the UK to ensure suitable local authority placements are provided for unaccompanied children urgently and sustainably.

We provided local authorities with children’s services £15,000 for every eligible young person taken into their care from a Home Office-run hotel dedicated to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children or the Kent Reception and Safe Care Service by the end of February 2023. As a result of incentivised funding, we were able to temporarily reduce the number of unaccompanied children accommodated in hotels to zero. This was the second funding pilot run by the Home Office in 2022/23 to help local authorities invest in longer term infrastructure for accommodating and supporting unaccompanied children. Ending the use of hotels for UASC is an absolute priority and we will continue to work around the clock with councils to increase the number of care placements available.

The data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured.

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