Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the number of children subject to removal under her plans to remove families from the UK.

All families will be offered financial support to enable them to return but, if that support is refused and steps are not taken to comply with the requirement to leave the UK, their return will be enforced. Decisions will continue to be governed by Section 55 duties and the Family Returns Process, with safeguarding and the best interests of the child paramount.

The Department has not published a numerical assessment of the number children who might be subject to removal under the plans announced on 17 November, which will continue to be developed over the coming months.