Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provision is being made for the education of and the disruption caused to children from asylum seeking families who are moved to hotel accommodation.

Irrespective of where “school aged” asylum seeking children are housed, the responsibility for the provision of education remains with the Local Authority in conjunction with the parent(s). When dispersal accommodation is identified a dispersal notification is issued which generally provides 5 days’ notice to the family. For those children of service users who are due to be dispersed there is a responsibility on the parent to ensure that their childrens’ school is advised they are due to move. Where necessary, accommodation providers will signpost and assist asylum seekers with this.

In terms of the new receiving school, it remains the responsibility of the asylum seeker to ensure that the new school is advised of their child’s previous place of education so effective ‘link up’ can be made by both schools, as is the case for the general population. Accommodation providers reiterate the importance of this when signposting asylum seekers to schools within the local area. Receiving councils will work quickly to ensure that available school places are offered to the children of asylum seekers.