Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many unaccompanied children seeking asylum have been placed in hotels in the last 12 months; and of that number, how many have ever been identified as missing.

The rise in the number of small boat crossings has placed significant pressures on local authority care placements for young people. Out of necessity, and with the best interests of the child in mind, we have had no alternative but to temporarily use hotels to give unaccompanied children a roof over their heads whilst local authority accommodation is found.

The safety and welfare of those in our care, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC), is our primary concern and the Home Office has robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure those in our accommodation are as safe and supported as possible as we seek urgent placements with a local authority. This includes support workers being onsite in the hotels 24 hours a day, alongside nurses and social workers. However, UASC are not detained and are free to leave the accommodation. All contingency sites have security staff and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.

3658 UASC arrived and were temporarily accommodated in Home Office UASC Hotels in 2022 (Jan-Dec) whilst awaiting a transfer to a local authority. 404 young people have gone missing in this period, most of which have since been found. There are currently 199 young people missing from Home Office UASC hotels however, this is a live operational figure and subject to change.

When a young person goes missing the ‘missing persons protocol’ is followed and led by our directly engaged social workers.

The MARS (Missing After Reasonable Steps) protocol is followed for any looked after child who goes missing from a care setting, including the UASC hotels. When used correctly, similar protocols within police forces have safely reduced the number of missing episodes from placements by 36%.

For any young person that goes missing from a UASC hotel, the local authority will convene a multi-agency forum including local police forces and the Home Office to seek to locate the child and ensure their safety.