Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children her Department forecasts will be subject to the duty to remove under clause 2 of the Illegal Migration Bill in 2024.

As set out in clause 1(1), the purpose of the Bill is to prevent and deter unlawful migration, and in particular migration by unsafe and illegal routes, by requiring the Home Secretary to return illegal migrants to their home country or remove them to a safe third country. The duty to make arrangements for removal in clause 2 does not apply to unaccompanied children, although there is a power to remove them under clause 3. An economic impact assessment will be published for the Bill in due course.