PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Cedars Pre-departure Accommodation Facility: Children (13 October 2016)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Written Statement WS114 of 21 July 2016, what new arrangements she plans to put in place at Tinsley House to safeguard and promote the welfare of children who previously have been detained in Cedars.

Asked by:
Ms Stella Creasy (Labour)

The family returns process, which was set up in 2011 as a key part of ending the routine detention of children, remains in place and is unchanged. The pre-departure accommodation remains an essential component of the family returns process.

The new pre-departure accommodation at Tinsley House will, as now, be used only as a last resort after all voluntary or other returns options have failed. It will operate under published operating standards and the distinct statutory framework established by the Immigration Act 2014, including the requirement for the Independent Family Returns Panel to be consulted in advance where it is proposed that a family is to be held there. The same statutory limits governing duration of stay will remain in force.

On 21 September 2016 the Home Office launched a tender exercise in line with Government procurement policy to identify the most suitable organisation to provide welfare services to families while they are accommodated at the new pre-departure accommodation.

Answered by:
Sir Robert Goodwill (Conservative)
21 October 2016