Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her department is taking to ensure that every child in care has their immigration status resolved before turning 18.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The previous Home Secretary set out in the Immigration White Paper published on 12 May 2025 that the Home Office will ensure children who have been in the UK for some time, turn 18 and discover they do not have status, are fully supported and able to regularise their status and settle where appropriate. This will also include a clear pathway for those children in care and care leavers.
This commitment will be delivered primarily through an update to the ‘children in care policy.
As part of this, separate targeted engagement will take place with external stakeholders to help us to understand the challenges in this area and develop a policy solution which supports children in care without status while upholding the need to have a robust and coherent migration system. Children who have claimed asylum are dealt with under separate provisions.
A range of reforms are underway across the immigration and asylum system, and the development of a clear pathway to settlement for children in care and care leavers must be considered alongside these changes.
When handling child applications, all caseworkers must comply with their duty under Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, to have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
Further detail on this will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact on the effectiveness of UK overseas development assistance spending.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to Baroness Chapman's appearance before the International Development Committee on 20 January, where she addressed these issues at length.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact on the transparency of UK overseas development assistance.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to Baroness Chapman's appearance before the International Development Committee on 20 January, where she addressed these issues at length.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what engagement has she had with the a) Independent Commission for Aid Impact and b) recipients of UK overseas development assistance, on future funding for the ICAI.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the Minister for International Development's appearance before the International Development Committee on 20 January, where she addressed these issues at length.
The Independent Commission for Aid Impact's (ICAI) budget allocation for 2025/26 is £3.97 million. Details of its past funding can be found in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) annual reports and accounts, and decisions on its future funding will be announced in due course when we publish our allocations of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget up to 2028/29. The FCDO remains committed to full transparency and scrutiny of our ODA spend.
Over the previous five financial years (2021/22 to 2025/26), ICAI have published on average 5.6 reviews and 1.6 shorter information notes per year. This financial year, ICAI have published 2 reviews to date.
Ministers and FCDO officials continue to have regular engagement with ICAI.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps is she taking to ensure future scrutiny and transparency of UK overseas development and assistance.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the Minister for International Development's appearance before the International Development Committee on 20 January, where she addressed these issues at length.
The Independent Commission for Aid Impact's (ICAI) budget allocation for 2025/26 is £3.97 million. Details of its past funding can be found in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) annual reports and accounts, and decisions on its future funding will be announced in due course when we publish our allocations of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget up to 2028/29. The FCDO remains committed to full transparency and scrutiny of our ODA spend.
Over the previous five financial years (2021/22 to 2025/26), ICAI have published on average 5.6 reviews and 1.6 shorter information notes per year. This financial year, ICAI have published 2 reviews to date.
Ministers and FCDO officials continue to have regular engagement with ICAI.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding was given by her Department to the Independent Commission for Aid Impact in each of the last five years.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the Minister for International Development's appearance before the International Development Committee on 20 January, where she addressed these issues at length.
The Independent Commission for Aid Impact's (ICAI) budget allocation for 2025/26 is £3.97 million. Details of its past funding can be found in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) annual reports and accounts, and decisions on its future funding will be announced in due course when we publish our allocations of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget up to 2028/29. The FCDO remains committed to full transparency and scrutiny of our ODA spend.
Over the previous five financial years (2021/22 to 2025/26), ICAI have published on average 5.6 reviews and 1.6 shorter information notes per year. This financial year, ICAI have published 2 reviews to date.
Ministers and FCDO officials continue to have regular engagement with ICAI.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her department has made of the impact of failing to resolve the immigration status of children in care before turning 18.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary set out in the Immigration White Paper published on 12 May 2025 that the Home Office will ensure children who have been in the UK for some time, turn 18 and discover they do not have status, are fully supported and able to regularise their status and settle where appropriate. This will also include a clear pathway for those children in care and care leavers.
This commitment will be delivered primarily through an update to the ‘children in care policy’. As part of this, separate targeted engagement will take place with external stakeholders to help us to understand the challenges in this area and develop a policy solution which supports children in care without status while upholding the need to have a robust and coherent migration system. Children who have claimed asylum are dealt with under separate provisions.
A range of reforms are underway across the immigration and asylum system, and the development of a clear pathway to settlement for children in care and care leavers must be considered alongside these changes.
Further detail on this will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that citizenship application fees are affordable for children who need to regularise their immigration status.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Children seeking to register as a British citizen will have the fee waived if they are able to credibly demonstrate that they cannot afford the fee. In addition, where an application has been made by or on behalf of a child who is looked after by a Local Authority, no fee is payable and it is not necessary for the child’s financial circumstances to be evidenced.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of Band 7 CBT therapist posts created in each of the last five years.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The table attached shows the growth in the relevant subsection of the NHS Talking Therapies workforce over the five years to 2024. The high intensity workforce, which includes cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) therapists, increased by 2,582 between 2019 and 2024 to 6,913 full time equivalent therapists. The number of qualified, Band 7 or over, CBT therapists grew over the same period by 1,049 to 3,853 full time equivalents.
This data is published through the mental health national workforce census at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/mental-health-national-workforce-census/
The NHS Talking Therapies workforce includes staff employed by National Health Service providers and also staff in NHS-commissioned independent, local authority, and voluntary sector providers.
The data is not available for Lambeth and Southwark as local data by service is not held centrally.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) NHS Talking Therapy trainees and (b) Band 7 CBT therapist posts have been created in (i) Lambeth and (ii) Southwark in each of the last five years.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The table attached shows the growth in the relevant subsection of the NHS Talking Therapies workforce over the five years to 2024. The high intensity workforce, which includes cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) therapists, increased by 2,582 between 2019 and 2024 to 6,913 full time equivalent therapists. The number of qualified, Band 7 or over, CBT therapists grew over the same period by 1,049 to 3,853 full time equivalents.
This data is published through the mental health national workforce census at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/mental-health-national-workforce-census/
The NHS Talking Therapies workforce includes staff employed by National Health Service providers and also staff in NHS-commissioned independent, local authority, and voluntary sector providers.
The data is not available for Lambeth and Southwark as local data by service is not held centrally.