Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that unaccompanied child asylum seekers are provided healthcare.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We maintain that the best place for these children to be accommodated is within local authority care. As part of the national transfer scheme, the receiving local authority must provide suitable support for all children being moved into their care, including health care, irrespective of the child’s immigration status.
Asylum seekers have access to health and social care services from the point of arrival in the UK. The Home Office and its contractors work closely with the NHS, local authorities and non-governmental organisations to ensure that people can access the healthcare and support they need.
All accommodation providers, including those who were responsible for the unaccompanied asylum seeking children hotels that were previously set up and run by the Home Office, have a contractual duty to assist people in accessing the health care they need.
The Home Office also operates a Safeguarding Hub to support vulnerable individuals in accessing these services. In addition, the Home Office contracts Migrant Help to provide advice and guidance to asylum seekers should they have an issue with their accommodation or support, and for signposting to health and welfare services. Asylum seekers can access Migrant Help 24/7, every day of the year by a freephone telephone number, via an online chat or completing an email enquiry form both of which can be accessed free of charge on the Migrant Help website. Interpreting and translation services are available through Migrant Help when the need arises for asylum seekers to raise any queries or concerns.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to locate the unaccompanied children seeking asylum who have gone missing from their accommodation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The wellbeing of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children is our priority. We maintain that the best place for these children to be accommodated is within local authority care.
There are currently no unaccompanied children in hotels and unaccompanied children’s hotel accommodation has been empty since 18 November 2023. Of the 7 hotels which were operational in 2022, 6 of those were closed permanently on 30 November 2023.
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 were safe and supported as we sought urgent placements with a local authority.
Police forces are responsible for locating missing children, in their region, in line with standard processes for any missing child in the UK.
When children who were provided with emergency Home Office accommodation went missing the MARS (Missing After Reasonable Steps) protocol was followed. The local authority works with multiple agencies to establish the young person's whereabouts and to ensure that they are safe.
Children staying in the Home Office hotels were supported by team leaders and support workers who were on site 24 hours a day. Further care was provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. All contingency sites had security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaised closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that local authorities have adequate resources to support unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in their care.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The safety and welfare of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children is our utmost priority. We recognise that providing care placements for them is a national issue that requires participation from local authorities across the UK. We continue to work alongside other government departments, devolved administrations, and local authority representatives, to ensure this vulnerable group of children have timely access to the statutory placements that local authorities must provide.
Local authorities receive funding to support Children’s Social Care through the Local Government Finance Settlement, and finance arrangements which apply to the devolved administrations. In addition, the Home Office also provides funding contributions to the costs incurred by local government in looking after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and former UASC care leavers.
The Home Office has also introduced our new Incentivised Funding Programme for 2023-24 which provides £6,000 for every unaccompanied child moved within 5 working days either from a UASC hotel, or from Kent County Council.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what safeguarding information his Department collects on unaccompanied children who are seeking asylum.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office collects information from individuals seeking asylum for the purpose of progressing asylum claims. When that information affects the type of accommodation an individual may require, that information is also recorded for the purposes of meeting our statutory obligation.
In respect of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children, responsibility to accommodate them sits with the local authority and they are required to collate appropriate safeguarding information for each child in their care.
All unaccompanied asylum-seeking children receive a welfare interview on arrival in the UK.
Young people who were placed in emergency interim hotels which were operated by the Home Office had additional standard information collected from them to ensure that referrals or actions required due to any identified safeguarding concerns or issues could be made, including notifying the relevant local authority.
Young people in the hotels 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.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what processes his Department has in place to help protect unaccompanied children seeking asylum who have been victims of (a) rape, (b) sexual assault and (c) sexual exploitation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We maintain that the best place for these children to be accommodated is within local authority care where they can receive the most appropriate support based on their individual needs.
We had robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people who were temporarily accommodated in Home Office run hotels were safe and supported as we sought urgent placements with a local authority.
Young people were supported by team leaders and support workers who were on site 24 hours a day. Further care was provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. All contingency sites had security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaised closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether measures introduced under the Leasehold and Freehold Bill will apply to leaseholders where the freeholder is a local authority.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
An Impact Assessment for the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill has been published at: Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament.
Most of the measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill will apply to local authority freeholders and we are currently undertaking a New Burdens Assessment to consider the effect of the Bill on local authorities.
All freeholders, and the wider public, are encouraged to respond to the consultation on ground rents, which is available here Modern leasehold: restricting ground rent for existing leases - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of provisions in the Leasehold and Freehold Bill on local authorities.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
An Impact Assessment for the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill has been published at: Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament.
Most of the measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill will apply to local authority freeholders and we are currently undertaking a New Burdens Assessment to consider the effect of the Bill on local authorities.
All freeholders, and the wider public, are encouraged to respond to the consultation on ground rents, which is available here Modern leasehold: restricting ground rent for existing leases - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing the compulsory labelling of products to indicate whether they were British-made or imported.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Aside from certain specified products such as food there is no requirement for goods to be labelled with their country of origin. The Government does not have plans to introduce such a requirement on behalf of consumers.
Under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, traders are banned from using misleading statements about the geographical or commercial origin of products including in response to requests for information by consumers.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to prevent companies being set up using other people's personal information without their consent.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 amends the Companies Act 2006 to introduce a range of measures aimed at preventing the abuse of personal information. Once commenced, these will mean that (amongst other things) those incorporating and running companies will be required to verify their identities, and that the registrar of companies will have enhanced powers to ensure that people’s personal addresses are not misused.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) likelihood and (b) impact on the banking sector of a payments system being hacked by a hostile actor; and what contingency plans his Department has put in place for this.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In fulfilling its role as lead government department for the finance sector, HMT assesses a range of risks that might have an impact on the functioning of the sector. The department has published several risks in the 2023 National Risk Register.