Question

To ask the Chairman of Committees whether he has considered recommending to the relevant Committee of the House of Lords that at times of great national tragedies the House could hear inclusive prayers that reflect the national mood of grief and caring.

There are no plans to update the practice guidance ‘Safeguarding children who may have been trafficked’. The revised statutory guidance ‘The care of unaccompanied asylum seeking and trafficked children’ will be published this autumn.

The training for foster carers and support workers that DfE commissioned from the Refugee Council and ECPAT enables those caring for unaccompanied and trafficked children to understand the challenges and risks facing these children, and equips participants with the knowledge and tools to respond effectively to their needs. Participants were also provided with access to an e-learning course to help recognise the needs of child and adult victims of trafficking and guidance on actions carers and professionals should take to identify and safeguard victims.

Foster carers and support workers attended training courses located in 48 local authorities (see list below). Training was not limited to carers from those authorities.

The forthcoming safeguarding strategy for unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children will address the need for any additional training required by foster carers and support workers to care for children who are, or might be, victims of human trafficking and exploitation.

Further to the training which has recently commissioned, the statutory guidance on ‘The care of unaccompanied asylum seeking and trafficked children’ states that “Everyone involved in the care of unaccompanied and trafficked children should be trained to recognise and understand the particular issues likely to be faced by these children. This includes recognising the indicators of trafficking as a child’s previous history or current experience of being trafficked might not be apparent on entering care."

List of local authorities where the training by ECPAT and Refugee Council was located:

Bolton

Bournemouth

Bristol

Bromley

Cambridgeshire

Camden

Cheshire East

Cornwall

Coventry

Croydon

Derbyshire

Devon

Doncaster

East Riding

Essex

Gloucestershire

Hampshire

Haringey

Harrow

Hertfordshire

Kent

Lambeth

Lancashire

Leeds

Leicester City

Leicestershire

Liverpool

Manchester

Medway

Merton

Middlesbrough

North Somerset

North Tyneside

Northumberland

Nottingham City

Oldham

Sheffield

Shropshire

Somerset

Staffordshire

Suffolk

Sunderland

Thurrock

Walsall

Warrington

West Sussex

Wiltshire

Worcestershire