A safeguarding review by the Independent Scrutineer of the Brighton & Hove Children’s Safeguarding Partnership has been requested to help respond to concerns raised by the council in relation to the welfare of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children placed by the Home Office in the city.
The Home Office started placing children in a hotel in the city in July 2021 without consultation with the council. The residents are boys aged 16 and 17 and more than 1,600 children have moved through the hotel and transferred to local authorities across the country through the National Transfer Scheme.
Council leader Phélim Mac Cafferty and deputy leader Hannah Allbrooke have written to the Minister for Immigration, the Right Honourable Robert Jenrick MP. In their letter they said:
“We have today requested that the Independent Scrutineer of the Brighton & Hove Children’s Safeguarding Partnership conducts a review into the multi-agency response to safeguarding issues in the hotel. We fully expect that the Home Office will make its officials available to be part of this review.”
Repeating concerns that the council has continually raised with the government about the Home Office’s use of hotels throughout the country to accommodate asylum seeking children, they also went onto say:
“We wish to restate our request made first in July 2021 and discuss how the Home Office will immediately end the unacceptable use of hotel accommodation for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, and indeed other refugees, in Brighton & Hove and the rest of the country.”
The council works with the Home Office, Sussex Police, NHS Sussex and other statutory agencies and local organisations to ensure children are safe and that their welfare is cared for while they temporarily live in our city.
The council takes its safeguarding responsibilities extremely seriously. When any child is reported missing the council works with the police and Home Office in every case to help trace the missing child.
Earlier this week, Sussex Police issued the following statement to the media:
“Sussex Police has a dedicated unit within its Missing Persons’ team focused solely on locating missing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
“Each investigation is conducted impartially, without prejudice and with the same level of scrutiny and determination as any other missing person report.
“Since the Home Office began housing asylum seekers in hotels in Brighton and Hove in July, 2021, 137 unaccompanied children have been reported missing. Of these, 60 have been located and 76 remain under investigation. One has been transferred to a neighbouring force.
“When people go missing, our primary role is to investigate the circumstances, including assessing if they are vulnerable or could have been a victim of crime.
“Once a person is located, where criminality is associated with either the initial disappearance or their subsequent harbouring, Sussex Police will take action as appropriate.
“We continue to work with the Home Office to help put prevention measures in place, including multi-agency safeguarding meetings, to ensure that when people are reported missing we have the best opportunity to locate them.”
Further information
• You can read how the Home Office deals with children’s asylum claims here or make an enquiry at public.enquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk
• You can contact the council if you’re worried about a child.