Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what training (1) social workers, and (2) foster parents, who are responsible for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, are given with regard to immigration issues.

The revised statutory guidance, published on 1 November 2017, for the care of unaccompanied migrant children and child victims of modern slavery attached, sets out the responsibility for all local authorities to ensure that social workers, personal advisers and their managers should understand how the child’s experiences, vulnerabilities and immigration status may impact on children. This can also have an impact on their assessment, care planning and delivery, and planning for the transition to adulthood.

The Fostering Services Regulations 2011 clearly sets out that all foster carers must receive the training and development they need to carry out their role effectively and to meet the child’s individual needs. It is up to local fostering services to determine what training they offer so they are able to meet local needs, such as training specifically in relation to unaccompanied asylum seeking children. Many local authorities and agencies have developed evidence-based training packages for their carers on a range of related issues.

On 1 November 2017, the Department for Education and Home Office published the attached safeguarding strategy on unaccompanied and asylum-seeking children. This sets out additional actions that the government will take to safeguard and promote the welfare of these children. Commitments include providing 1,000 training places for foster carers and support workers caring for unaccompanied children, and downloadable training resources to enable social workers to understand when and how they should be involved in a child’s immigration claim.