Found: Homes for Ukraine: safeguarding concerns for vulnerable refugees.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that vulnerable children are treated with decency and compassion.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Home Office takes our duty of care towards children extremely seriously and we prioritise the safety of children and any applications from asylum seeking children.

We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all children in hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority. Children are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. All contingency sites have security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents

Decision makers who specifically deal with children’s claims complete additional training on Processing Children’s Asylum Claims and have additional periods of mentoring. Additionally, decision makers attend a Safeguarding Awareness training which raises awareness of responsibilities of staff who deal with non-detained individuals and aims to ensure a consistent approach to safeguarding procedures for children.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that lone child refugees held in detention centres do not feel intimidated and frightened.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

We take the welfare of children incredibly seriously and that is why we have said it is not compassionate to allow people - including vulnerable children - to be risking their lives any longer. We have to break the cycle and stop the boats.

The Home Office have put in place further funding throughout 2023-24 of £6,000 for every unaccompanied child moved from a UASC hotel to a local authority within five working days to encourage quicker transfers into local authority care.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of children held longer than the time limit for detention.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

We take the welfare of children incredibly seriously and that is why we have said it is not compassionate to allow people - including vulnerable children - to be risking their lives any longer. We have to break the cycle and stop the boats.

The Home Office have put in place further funding throughout 2023-24 of £6,000 for every unaccompanied child moved from a UASC hotel to a local authority within five working days to encourage quicker transfers into local authority care.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what specialist support they offer to unaccompanied migrant children who have been arrested, including those who have been trafficked, to enable them to rebuild their lives.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department takes the welfare of unaccompanied migrant children extremely seriously and we are committed to ensuring they are safe and secure. Local authorities have a duty to provide services to all children in need in their area. Under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989, those under the age of 18 arriving as unaccompanied asylum-seekers should enter the care of the local authority in which area they first present.

All unaccompanied children, including those who have been arrested or trafficked, should be safeguarded and have their welfare promoted in the same way as any other looked-after child. Social Workers and other practitioners including police, health, education and youth offender services practitioners, and those who care for looked-after children, are encouraged to consider the full range of support available to looked after children in their areas, including that from community and other organisations.

The provisions under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 ensure that if there is uncertainty over whether a potential victim of trafficking is a child or an adult, then that person is presumed to be a child and receives the appropriate support without delay. If practitioners have concerns that a child may be a potential victim of modern slavery or human trafficking, then a referral should be made to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) as soon as possible. Guidance on making a referral can be found in the attached document. The NRM acts as a formal framework for first responders to identify potential victims of trafficking and assists with the provision of victim support. Like any other child in need, a trafficked child referred through the NRM should be safeguarded by the local authority on which the referral is made. Where it is evident that the child faces a significant risk of harm from the trafficker, appropriate arrangements will need to be put in place to keep the child safe from harm, and the child’s care plan should include such measures.

In addition, the Home Office has rolled out Independent Child Trafficking Guardians (ICTGs) to two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales. In June 2023, the Minister for Safeguarding agreed to extend the current grant agreement to 31 March 2025, alongside working to deliver ICTG national rollout covering all of England and Wales. ICTGs are an additional source of advice and support for potentially trafficked children, and somebody who can advocate on their behalf to ensure their best interests are reflected in the decision-making processes undertaken by the public authorities who are involved in the child’s care. The support they provided is in addition to the statutory support provided to children by local authorities. Statutory guidance on roles and responsibilities of ICTGs is attached.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many unaccompanied migrant children who have gone missing from hotels run by the Home Office have since been arrested; and for what offences.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth

UASC hotels are temporary accommodation that provide safeguarding for a child until they are ready to be transferred through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) from an entry local authority to another local authority in the UK for ongoing care and support.

We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in emergency interim hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.

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

The most recent published data can be found at Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Although the Home Office would record that an Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Child (UASC) who’s gone missing from a UASC Hotel was arrested when they were found, we aren’t always notified of the full circumstances in which a UASC is found, and therefore we would not be able to provide details for this request.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many unaccompanied migrant children who have gone missing from hotels run by the Home Office have since been found.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth

UASC hotels are temporary accommodation that provide safeguarding for a child until they are ready to be transferred through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) from an entry local authority to another local authority in the UK for ongoing care and support.

We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in emergency interim hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.

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

The most recent published data can be found at Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Although the Home Office would record that an Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Child (UASC) who’s gone missing from a UASC Hotel was arrested when they were found, we aren’t always notified of the full circumstances in which a UASC is found, and therefore we would not be able to provide details for this request.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many unaccompanied migrant children have gone missing from hotels run by the Home Office.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth

UASC hotels are temporary accommodation that provide safeguarding for a child until they are ready to be transferred through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) from an entry local authority to another local authority in the UK for ongoing care and support.

We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in emergency interim hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.

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

The most recent published data can be found at Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Although the Home Office would record that an Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Child (UASC) who’s gone missing from a UASC Hotel was arrested when they were found, we aren’t always notified of the full circumstances in which a UASC is found, and therefore we would not be able to provide details for this request.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children were accommodated in Home Office operated hotels in each month since October 2022 by age.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.

Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. All contingency sites have security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.

If any child goes missing the MARS (Missing After Reasonable Steps) protocol is followed. A multi-agency, missing persons meeting is chaired by the local authority to establish the young person's whereabouts and to ensure that they are safe. Similar protocols within police forces have safely reduced the number of missing episodes from placements by 36%.

The Home Office continue to work with the police and local authorities to ensure the children in our care are safe.The Police are responsible for locating any missing children.

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

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children accommodated in Home Office operated hotels (a) have gone missing since July 2021 and (b) are missing as of 13 June 2023.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.

Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. All contingency sites have security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.

There are 154 Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) missing as of 8 June 2023.

If any child goes missing, including UASCs, the MARS (Missing After Reasonable Steps) protocol is followed. A multi-agency, missing persons meeting is chaired by the local authority to establish the young person's whereabouts and to ensure that they are safe. Similar protocols within police forces have safely reduced the number of missing episodes from placements by 36%.

The Home Office continue to work with the police and local authorities to ensure the children in our care are safe. The police are responsible for locating any missing children.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number of police forces investigating crimes where the alleged victim is an unaccompanied child who was accommodated in, or went missing from, a Home Office operated hotel.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

This information is held by the individual encountering police forces but is not held or collated centrally.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what support they provide, if any, towards the implementation of the UNHCR-UNICEF Blueprint for Joint Action for Refugee Children.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

The UK continues to prioritise education for refugee children through our work in emergencies and protracted crises, with our support through Education Cannot Wait and the Global Partnership for Education contributing to the blueprint's objectives.

In 2022 the UK provided £33m to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and £24m to UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund, in core contributions. This includes support for the implementation of the UNHCR-UNICEF Blueprint for Joint Action for Refugee Children.

The UK gives UNHCR and UNICEF the flexibility to direct funding where it is needed most through the high proportion of unearmarked funding provided from our core contributions, including to the three priority sectors under the blueprint of Education; WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene); and child protection

Found: HL7794 Date tabled: 11 May 2023 | Date for answer: 25 May 2023 | Date answered: 26 May 2023 Refugees

Found: characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010 .1 There are also other groups, such as veterans, refugees

Found: characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010 .1 There are also other groups, such as veterans, refugees