Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Nash on 1 November (WS231) that the new safeguarding strategy will not be published until May 2017, what specific interim measures have been put in place to ensure that the wellbeing of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children is safeguarded.

The Government already has in place a comprehensive framework for safeguarding children, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children.

We have been working with local authorities, non-government organisations and other public bodies over a number of months to make sure unaccompanied children receive the immediate support they need. At the beginning of October, new training commenced for foster carers and support workers looking after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, and in the coming weeks we will assess what the additional training needs are. We are providing ongoing responsive advice and guidance to local authorities working with children being transferred under new legislation and we are working with key partners to increase the number of suitable placements for them.

The safeguarding strategy for unaccompanied children will bring together the extensive programme of work already underway, as well as set out areas where we will go further by building on existing good practice. We will consult local authorities, non-government organisations and other public bodies to ensure the strategy is comprehensive and supports the best outcomes for unaccompanied children.