Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to locate unaccompanied children who arrived in the UK since July 2021 who were placed in hotels in Kent and Sussex who have subsequently gone missing.

Police forces are responsible for locating missing children, in their region, in line with standard processes for any missing child in the UK.

We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in hotels are safe and supported as 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 social workers and nurses. All contingency sites have security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.

If any child including unaccompanied asylum seeking children, goes missing the MARS (Missing After Reasonable Steps) protocol is followed. The local authority will work with multiple agencies to establish the young person's whereabouts and to ensure that they are safe. Similar protocols within police forces have safely reduced the number of missing episodes from placements by 36%.