To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2023 to Question 132333 on Asylum: Children, and with reference to the response to the Urgent Question on 24 January 2023 on Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children, Official Report column 859, of the 4,600 unaccompanied children who have been accommodated in hotels since July 2021 and who have not gone missing, what is the (a) shortest, (b) average and (c) longest number of days that they have remained in that form of accommodation.
Answered on
24 February 2023
All unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) in interim emergency UASC hotels are referred to local authorities under the mandated National Transfer Scheme (NTS) within the shortest time frame possible. The time it takes for a local authority to identify a placement varies and has meant some UASC experiencing delays in transferring. The NTS transferred 3,148 children to local authorities with children’s services between 1 July 2021 and 30 September 2022. Over four times the number of transfers on the year before. To incentivise further transfers, we are providing local authorities with children’s services with an additional £15,000 for every eligible young person they take into their care from a dedicated UASC hotel, or the Reception and Safe Care Service in Kent, by the end of February 2023.
Some transfers fail on the day because the minor refuses to transfer. In these instances, social workers from the emergency hotels and local authorities work closely with the children to help them understand the options and encourage them to accept the placement.
As of 08.02.23 the figures were as below for the young people who’ve been accommodated in UASC Hotels:
a) Shortest length of stay – less than 1 day
b) Average length of stay – 20.11 days
c) Longest length of stay – 128 days
The safety and wellbeing of those in our care is our primary concern. Robust safeguarding and welfare procedures are in place to ensure all children and minors are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority. This includes support workers being onsite in the hotels 24 hours a day, supported by nurses and social workers. 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.