My Lords, these amendments, which are all concerned with the detention and removal of children, either on their own or as part of families, are a reflection of existing government policy, which, in the absence of these amendments, could be reversed without parliamentary oversight, as the Home Secretary
observes in her Factsheet: Ending the Detention of Children for Immigration Purposes, issued last month. In fact, children are still to be detained, but in places described as “pre-departure accommodation”. The only place identified as such so far is, as has been mentioned, Cedars near Heathrow, which has hitherto been included in the list of short-term holding facilities to be discussed in the next amendment. It appears to me that holding children in Cedars is still detention, as I think my noble friend Lady Hamwee remarked, because the families are still deprived of their liberty, albeit in far more congenial surroundings than in immigration removal centres and even though they are no doubt looked after far better by child-friendly Barnardo’s than the impersonal money-making subsidiary of Capita that runs the IRCs.
Amendment 9 allows for a 28-day grace period following the exhaustion of appeal rights before a child and the relevant carer may be removed, during which it is hoped that agreement can be reached on their voluntary departure. This system is already operating on a non-statutory basis, but it would be useful if my noble friend could say what statistics there are on voluntary, as compared with forced, departures up until this point. In addition, are any resettlement grants available to families who agree to voluntary departure and what are the details of the organisation through which the voluntary departures and any associated grants are organised? They used to be organised by the International Organisation for Migration, but I think that that has changed in recent years.
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One assumes that, where Amendment 9 confers power on the Secretary of State to issue removal directions or a deportation order within the 28-day period, the directions or order will not come into effect before the expiry of the 28 days. However, should that not be made explicit in subsections (4)(a) and (4)(b) of the new clause?
The Independent Family Returns Panel, whose functions are defined in Amendment 10 and which has been referred to by my noble friend and others, advises the Home Office on how best to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in a family that is to be returned. We see, however, that the Secretary of State will appoint all the members and decide the status and constitution of the panel. Any other matters concerned with the panel’s operation will be determined by secondary legislation, which is also under the Secretary of State’s control. We have not received advice on how the label “independent” is to be made a reality, but perhaps my noble friend will have some suggestions when he replies.
We would also like to know whether, in the regulations, it is intended that means will be provided whereby families and their legal representatives can present information directly to the panel—a matter that was raised by my noble friend Lady Hamwee—or whether they can verify or challenge the information presented to the panel by the Home Office or others. We would like the family to be given copies of the Home Office’s immigration factual summary and family welfare form routinely, without having to make a subject access request. In fact, copies of all forms or documents connected to a case, and of the conclusions reached by
the panel, should be made available to the family. I would like my noble friend to consider that point in his reply.
The new clause proposed in Amendment 14 is headed “Restrictions on detention of unaccompanied children”, which acknowledges that there are still circumstances in which children need to be detained. There is no way of avoiding detention pending the transfer of a child to social services or where there is a reasonable suspicion that the child is being trafficked. ILPA suggests that, in cases of that sort, the power in Section 46 of the Children Act 1989 for police to remove a child liable to suffer significant harm to suitable accommodation should be used, but I understand that that would require an immigration officer to explain the situation to a police officer rather than act on the information that he has. That would take time and cause delays.
We are told that returns of unaccompanied children are extremely rare and it would be useful again if my noble friend could tell your Lordships what the number in the latest convenient year for which the information is available was. Could he also tell the Committee what the Home Office is hoping to do as regards the return of unaccompanied minors to Afghanistan and Albania in particular, a matter that we understand is under consideration by the Home Office?