May. 21 2024
Source Page: RG2 0RP, Thames Water Utilities Appeal (Reading) Conditions attached to a permit - EPR/MP3338LU/V004Found: Stakeholders in particular (including investors, staff, non-government organisations (NGOs), local communities
Report May. 21 2024
Committee: Women and Equalities CommitteeFound: I had to battle for it with my local NHS trust.
Report May. 21 2024
Committee: Women and Equalities CommitteeFound: I had to battle for it with my local NHS trust.
May. 21 2024
Source Page: Court capacity bolstered in and around Blackpool to get justice doneFound: additional courtrooms, reopening of cells and new Tribunal location to benefit local community more
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of children have refused their (a) first and (b) second move on the National Transfer Scheme; and what guidance his Department issues on refusals by children to move through the National Transfer Scheme.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The decision for any UAS child to be referred to the NTS for transfer lies with the local authority as the child’s corporate parent. The NTS Protocol sets out the criteria for referring a child to the NTS, and the associated timeframes, which can be found here: Unaccompanied asylum seeking children: national transfer scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The NTS Protocol also outlines the escalation procedure on how to proceed when any issues arise between the receiving local authority around a transfer.
The most recent published data can be found at: RASI (Resettlement, Asylum Support and Integration) data: Q3 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has issued guidance on the time period within which young people should be (a) referred to the National Transfer Scheme and (b) moved to the receiving local authority.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The decision for any UAS child to be referred to the NTS for transfer lies with the local authority as the child’s corporate parent. The NTS Protocol sets out the criteria for referring a child to the NTS, and the associated timeframes, which can be found here: Unaccompanied asylum seeking children: national transfer scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The NTS Protocol also outlines the escalation procedure on how to proceed when any issues arise between the receiving local authority around a transfer.
The most recent published data can be found at: RASI (Resettlement, Asylum Support and Integration) data: Q3 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of children who have been allocated a transfer to a local authority through the National Transfer Scheme have been refused by that local authority.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The decision for any UAS child to be referred to the NTS for transfer lies with the local authority as the child’s corporate parent. The NTS Protocol sets out the criteria for referring a child to the NTS, and the associated timeframes, which can be found here: Unaccompanied asylum seeking children: national transfer scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The NTS Protocol also outlines the escalation procedure on how to proceed when any issues arise between the receiving local authority around a transfer.
The most recent published data can be found at: RASI (Resettlement, Asylum Support and Integration) data: Q3 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers with children have been made homeless on achieving refugee status in the past 12 months.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the information requested.
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide accommodation to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered. Following the service of an asylum decision, an individual continues to be an asylum seeker for the purpose of asylum support until the end of the relevant prescribed period set out in legislation. This period is 28 calendar days from when an individual is notified of a decision to accept their asylum claim and grant them leave and we have no plans to extend this period. Whilst our legislative power is clear, we do in practice already extend support beyond this. Our current process means that individuals can remain on asylum support for at least 28 days after they have been issued a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP), which means that individuals have longer than 28 days to make arrangements to move on before their asylum support ends. It is important that individuals initiate plans to move on from asylum support as soon as they are served their asylum decision in order to maximise the time they have to make move on arrangements.
We offer move on support to all individuals through Migrant Help or their partner organisation. This includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing. Individuals do not need to wait for their BRP to make a claim for benefits and are encouraged to do so as early as possible if they require them. Individuals can contact Migrant Help in three ways:
We continue to identify and make efficiencies in supporting newly recognised refugees during the move on period and to mitigate the risk of homelessness. We are fully committed to working with partners in doing this. We have already worked closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures. We are also utilising Home Office Liaison Officers to replicate part of the Afghan resettlement move on process. We have been working in three local authority areas since December 2023; Glasgow, Brent and Hillingdon. This has now been expanded to Manchester and Liverpool.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in care are moved more than 10 miles away due to a lack of appropriate local care options.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The ‘Children looked after in England including adoptions’ 2023 data shows that 70% of children who were looked after on 31 March 2023 were placed within 20 miles of home and 21% were placed over 20 miles from home. This data is published on GOV.UK. Information for the remaining 9% was not known or not recorded. In most cases this will be because the child was an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child but it could also be because the home address was not known or for reasons of confidentiality. Information on reasons why children were placed more than 20 miles from their home is not held centrally by the department.
Sometimes out of area placements are essential to keep a child safe, but the department recognises there are challenges in the children’s social care sector. At the Spring Budget, the government announced a £165 million boost to expand places in secure and open residential children’s homes, on top of the £259 million secured at Spending Review 2021. This takes the total planned investment to over £400 million. This Spring Budget funding is expected to create a further 200 open children’s homes (OCHs) places and rebuild Atkinson and Swanwick secure children’s homes (SCHs). This is in addition to the 95 new OCHs, providing 360 additional placements, and two brand new regional SCHs in London and West Midlands created by the Spending Review funding. This total investment illustrates the department’s commitment to support councils in continuing to deliver high-quality services to vulnerable children and families.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers with at least one disabled child who have achieved refugee status have been made homeless on achieving that status in the past 12 months.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the information requested.
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide accommodation to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered. Following the service of an asylum decision, an individual continues to be an asylum seeker for the purpose of asylum support until the end of the relevant prescribed period set out in legislation. This period is 28 calendar days from when an individual is notified of a decision to accept their asylum claim and grant them leave and we have no plans to extend this period. Whilst our legislative power is clear, we do in practice already extend support beyond this. Our current process means that individuals can remain on asylum support for at least 28 days after they have been issued a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP), which means that individuals have longer than 28 days to make arrangements to move on before their asylum support ends. It is important that individuals initiate plans to move on from asylum support as soon as they are served their asylum decision in order to maximise the time they have to make move on arrangements.
We offer move on support to all individuals through Migrant Help or their partner organisation. This includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing. Individuals do not need to wait for their BRP to make a claim for benefits and are encouraged to do so as early as possible if they require them. Individuals can contact Migrant Help in three ways:
We continue to identify and make efficiencies in supporting newly recognised refugees during the move on period and to mitigate the risk of homelessness. We are fully committed to working with partners in doing this. We have already worked closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures. We are also utilising Home Office Liaison Officers to replicate part of the Afghan resettlement move on process. We have been working in three local authority areas since December 2023; Glasgow, Brent and Hillingdon. This has now been expanded to Manchester and Liverpool.