asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many non-British children have been taken into care by children's social services, on or soon after arrival in the United Kingdom, in each of the past three years; whether they can specify which local authorities were involved and distinguish between accompanied and unaccompanied children. [HL1087]
The table below shows the number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who started to be looked after during each of the years ending 31 March 2004 to 2006. Other non-British children who are taken into care are not separately identifiable in nationally collected data.
numbers 2004 2005 2006 England 1,600 1,800 2,100 North-east 10 20 10 Shire counties Durham 0 0 - Northumberland 0 0 0 Unitary authorities Darlington 0 0 0 Hartlepool 0 0 0 Middlesbrough 0 0 0 Redcar & Cleveland 0 0 0 Stockton on Tees - - - Metropolitan Districts Gateshead 0 0 0 Newcastle upon Tyne - 15 0 North Tyneside - - - South Tyneside 0 0 - Sunderland 0 0 0 North-west 50 70 150 Shire counties Cheshire 0 0 0 Cumbria 0 0 0 Lancashire 0 0 0 Unitary authorities Blackburn & Darwen 0 0 0 Blackpool 0 0 - Halton 0 0 0 Warrington 0 0 0 Metropolitan Districts Bolton - 5 - Bury - - 15 Knowsley 0 0 0 Liverpool - 10 25 Manchester 40 40 90 Oldham - 0 0 Rochdale - - 0 Salford - - - Sefton 0 0 0 St Helens 0 0 0 Stockport - 0 - Tameside - 0 - Trafford 0 0 0 Wigan - - - Wirral 0 0 - Yorkshire & The Humber 40 70 40 Shire counties North Yorkshire - 0 - Unitary authorities East Riding Yorkshire - - - Kingston upon Hull 0 - 0 North-east Lincolnshire - - 0 North Lincolnshire 0 - - York 0 0 0 Metropolitan Districts Barnsley 0 - 0 Bradford 0 - 0 Calderdale - - 0 Doncaster - 0 0 Kirklees - 0 0 Leeds - 15 Rotherham - - - Sheffield 20 30 20 Wakefield 0 - - East Midlands 30 20 30 Shire Counties Derbyshire 0 - - Leicestershire - - 15 Lincolnshire 0 - - Northamptonshire 5 - - Nottinghamshire - - - Unitary authorities Derby 5 - - Leicester 10 - - Nottingham 0 - - Rutland 0 0 0 West Midlands 50 90 160 Shire counties Shropshire - - - Staffordshire - 10 15 Warwickshire - 10 10 Worcestershire 0 - - Unitary authorities Herefordshire 0 0 0 Stoke-on-Trent 0 0 0 Telford & Wrekin 0 0 0 Metropolitan Districts Birmingham 10 40 90 Coventry - - - Dudley 0 0 0 Sandwell 0 - - Solihull 30 30 35 Walsall 0 - - Wolverhampton - 0 0 East of England 70 90 140 Shire counties Bedfordshire - - - Cambridgeshire - 25 90 Essex 5 15 5 Hertfordshire - - 5 Norfolk 10 10 20 Suffolk 0 0 0 Unitary Authorities Luton 10 10 - Peterborough 5 25 - Southend 0 0 0 Thurrock 25 - - London 1,000 1,000 1,100 Inner London 390 320 340 Camden 15 20 5 City of London 10 20 10 Greenwich 30 15 40 Hackney 10 10 0 Hammersmith & Fulham 55 50 30 Islington 30 30 20 Kensington & Chelsea 35 30 25 Lambeth 30 25 105 Lewisham 75 30 15 Southwark 50 30 20 Tower Hamlets 10 30 20 Wandsworth 5 - - Westminster 40 30 40 Outer London 630 700 770 Barking & Dagenham 20 40 40 Barnet 15 45 20 Bexley - 20 15 Brent 20 35 30 Bromley 5 10 15 Croydon 145 170 240 Ealing - 30 35 Enfield 5 0 0 Haringey 55 90 55 Harrow. 5 10 25 Havering - - - Hillingdon 145 115 195 Hounslow 15 55 45 Kingston upon Thames 60 30 25 Merton 15 - - Newham 45 20 10 Redbridge 15 20 5 Richmond upon Thames - - 0 Sutton 0 0 - Waltham Forest 50 10 15 South-east 310 380 470 Shire Counties Buckinghamshire - - - East Sussex - - - Hampshire - 15 15 Kent 160 215 270 Oxfordshire 30 40 40 Surrey 5 30 35 West Sussex 75 40 50 Unitary authorities Bracknell Forest 0 - 0 Brighton & Hove - - 20 Isle of Wight 0 0 0 Medway Towns 0 0 0 Milton Keynes 0 0 0 Portsmouth 0 0 Reading 5 5 10 Slough 10 10 10 Southampton - - 0 West Berkshire 10 20 10 Windsor & Maidenhead 0 - - Wokingham 0 0 South-west 20 30 20 Shire counties Cornwall 0 0 0 Devon 0 - 0 Dorset 0 0 0 Gloucestershire - 0 - Isles Of Scilly 0 0 0 Somerset - 0 0 Wiltshire - - - Unitary authorities Bath & North-east Somerset 0 0 0 Bournemouth - 0 0 Bristol - - - North Somerset - - - Plymouth 5 5 - Poole 0 0 - South Gloucestershire 0 0 0 Swindon 0 20 10 Torbay 0 0 0 1Source: DfES, SSDA903 return which since 2004 covered all children looked after by local authorities. 2 To maintain the confidentiality of each individual child, numbers at local authority level have been rounded to the nearest five, except numbers from one to five inclusive, which have been suppressed and replaced by a hyphen “-”. At national level, numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100 if they exceed 1,000 and to the nearest 10 otherwise.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have made an assessment of the average and standard deviation of the ages, between 16 and 20, at which children develop particular dental characteristics in Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iran, China and Somalia; and how they intend to use these data to assist in age determination for immigration control purposes. [HL1090]
While no specific assessment as outlined above has been carried out we have commissioned a review of the current scientific evidence on the effectiveness of dental age assessment techniques. We will carefully consider the findings of this review, which is expected to report by the end of February, before proceeding with any plans to introduce dental analysis as supplementary evidence in assessing age for immigration purposes. An interview with the child or young person and consideration of information submitted will remain important factors in the final decision on their age. We are planning to publish a consultation paper soon on this and other possible reforms in the context of processing applications for asylum from unaccompanied minors.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many unaccompanied young persons made applications for asylum in 2006; and in how many of these cases, and in respect of what countries, there was a dispute about the age of the applicant. [HL1091]
Information is not available on how many of those asylum applications lodged in 2006 from unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASCs) have, been age disputed.
Information on UASCs is published on a quarterly basis. Statistics on age-disputed applications are published annually. The quarter four UASC report will be available from 27 February 2007. Copies of these publications and others relating to immigration to the UK are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.htm. Data on age-disputed asylum applications in 2006 do not necessarily relate to UASC applications received within the same period.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many young unaccompanied asylum seekers from countries to which non-suspensive appeals apply claimed to be under 18; and on what grounds were each deemed to be over 18.[HL1092]
Data on the numbers of asylum applications from unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) and age-disputed cases from non-suspensive appeals countries can be found in the attached tables. Data on the grounds upon which individual age-disputed cases were deemed to be over 18 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case records.
Information on unaccompanied asylum-seeking children is published quarterly and annually. Copies of these publications and others relating to immigration to the UK are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
Nationality Number of UASC Applications Albania 10 Bulgaria - Jamaica * Macedonia - Moldova * Serbia and Montenegro 5 Romania 5 Bolivia - Brazil - Ecuador - South Africa * Sri Lanka 10 Ukraine - India 10 Ghana 2 * Nigeria 2 10 Mongolia 5 1 Provisional figures rounded to nearest five, with “*” = one or two. 2 Includes figures for females who are not non-suspensive appeals (NSA) cases because NSA applies only to males from these countries.
Nationality Number of Age Disputed Applications Albania 5 Bulgaria - Jamaica - Macedonia - Moldova - Serbia and Montenegro 5 Romania * Bolivia - Brazil - Ecuador - South Africa - Sri Lanka 5 Ukraine - India 5 Ghana 4 * Nigeria 4 10 Mongolia - 1 Provisional figures rounded to nearest five, with “*” = one or two. 2 When an asylum applicant claims to be a minor but his/her physical appearance strongly suggests that he/she is over 18, IND’s policy is to treat the applicant as an adult until there is credible documentary or other persuasive evidence to demonstrate the age claimed. 3 Includes cases for which age disputed at time of application. 4 Includes figures for females who are not non-suspensive appeals (NSA) cases because NSA applies only to males from these countries.