Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January to Question 132555 on Asylum: Hove, how many hours notice were given to the local authority prior to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children moving into the site.

The rise in the number of small boat crossings has placed significant pressures on local authority care placements for young people.

The safety and welfare of those in our care, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, is our primary concern and the Home Office has robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure those in our accommodation are as safe and supported as possible as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.

The National Transfer Scheme (NTS) transferred 3,148 children to local authorities with children’s services between 1 July 2021 and 30 September 2022. This compares to 739 children transferred in the same time frame in the previous year. From 16 December 2022 we are also providing local authorities with children’s services £15,000 for every eligible young person they take into their care by the end of February 2023.  This is in addition to the funding local authorities already receive for supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.