PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Short-term Holding Facilities: Children (8 September 2023)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department will accept donations of (a) toys for children at her Department 's short-term holding facilities and (b) funds for the express purpose of procuring toys for children staying at such facilities.

Asked by:
Ms Diane Abbott (Labour)

Under contractual arrangements Home Office has Mitie Care & Custod provides, toys and games are for children in Short-Term Holding Facilities (STHF).

All local authorities are under a mandatory duty to comply with the National Transfer Scheme, ensuring all local authorities play a part in caring for unaccompanied children and that responsibility is fairly distributed across the UK.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to protect all children.

Answered by:
Robert Jenrick (Conservative)
18 September 2023