Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have regarding unaccompanied children seeking asylum that have gone missing while in temporary hotel accommodation; and what assessment they have made of any evidence of organised crime involvement in those disappearances.

The safety and wellbeing of those in our care is our primary concern. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in emergency interim hotels are safe and supported whilst we seek urgent placements with a local authority. Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of specialist social workers and nurses.

We have no power to detain UASC in hotels and we know some do go missing. Many of those who have gone missing are subsequently traced and located. Children’s movements in and out of hotels are monitored and recorded and they are accompanied by support workers when attending organised activities and social excursions off-site, or where specific vulnerabilities are identified.

There are many reasons why children go missing from care. This is also true of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. It would be wrong to make generalisations regarding the reasons for this.