Moved by
Lord Dubs
135A: After Clause 19, insert the following new Clause—
“National action plan for the welfare of unaccompanied children
(1) The Secretary of State must, in consultation with the Local Government Association, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services and the Children’s Commissioner for England, publish a national action plan for the welfare of unaccompanied children.
(2) The national action plan for the welfare of unaccompanied children must set out the steps the Secretary of State will take to ensure that local authorities are able to safeguard and promote the welfare of relevant children within their area and in particular to ensure that relevant children have adequate access to—
(a) legal advice;
(b) mental health and other healthcare provision;
(c) appropriate accommodation, including foster care provision and semi-independent accommodation;
(d) social work support;
(e) the education system;
(f) English language education;
(g) any other services necessary to meet the needs of relevant children.
(3) The national action plan for the welfare of unaccompanied children must set out the process by which information about children to be included in the scheme provided for under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 (unaccompanied refugee children: relocation and support), is to be communicated to local authorities, including details about—
(a) age;
(b) any known medical needs;
(c) any accommodation preferences expressed by children;
(d) linguistic competencies and requirements;
(e) any known special educational needs;
(f) any other available information necessary to allow local authorities to meet the needs of relevant children.
(4) The national action plan for the welfare of unaccompanied children must describe the additional infrastructure that will be put in place to ensure that the welfare of relevant children is protected during and after transfers under section 69 of the Immigration Act 2016 (transfer of responsibility for relevant children), including details about—
(a) funding to be provided to Regional Strategic Migration Partnerships;
(b) plans to draw on the expertise of service providers; and
(c) any other plans to ensure that appropriate expertise and training is available to relevant authorities.
(5) In this section—
“local authority” means a local authority within the meaning of the Children Act 1989 (see section 105(1) of that Act);
“relevant child” means—
(a) a person under the age of 18 who is unaccompanied and has made a protection claim which has not been determined,
(b) a person under the age of 18 who is unaccompanied and who requires leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom but does not have it, or
(c) a person under the age of 18 who is unaccompanied and who has been granted humanitarian protection, refugee status, discretionary leave or limited leave to remain in the UK as an unaccompanied asylum seeking child.
“service provider” means an organisation providing basic services to relevant children including legal advice.”