Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure children’s best interests will be treated as a primary consideration when considering forthcoming legislation on Article 8, in line with the UK’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

This government is fully committed to the European Convention on Human Rights and our obligations under the UN Convention on the rights of the child. However, the government recognises the family and private life rules are not working as intended.

As we work to restore order, control and fairness to our immigration system the government will set out a new family policy that will cover all UK residents. We will also strengthen the public interest test to take back control over who comes to and stays in the UK, striking the right balance between individual family rights and the wider public interest. We will clarify Article 8 rules so that fewer cases are treated as ‘exceptional’ and set out how and when someone can make a claim.

We will adhere to commitments laid out in the 2025 UK Immigration White Paper, to ensure children who have been in the UK for most of their life, turn 18, and discover they do not have status, are fully supported and able to regularise their status and settle.

Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 also requires the Home Office to take into account the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the UK. We will undertake children impact assessments to ensure Section 55 and children’s best interests are central to immigration decisions that may affect them.