Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to identify the age of people placed in care facilities with minors when requesting asylum.

Where clear and credible documentary evidence of age is not available, criteria including physical appearance and demeanour are used as part of the process to assess whether a person is under 18. The Home Office will treat a person claiming to be a child as an adult only where their physical appearance and demeanour very strongly suggest they are 25 years of age or over.

When there is doubt about an individual’s claim to be a child, Home Office policy is to refer them to the relevant local authority to carry out a careful “Merton compliant” age assessment, which must be carried out by two social workers and must adhere to guidelines set out by the Courts. Whilst this assessment is ongoing, the local authority or Health and Social Care Trust looking after the individual remains responsible for their care arrangements and the safeguarding of other children in their care.

The Home Office keeps its policies and processes under review and we remain committed to striking the right balance between ensuring that children who claim asylum are appropriately supported and maintaining the integrity of the asylum system by preventing adults being treated as children.