Shabana Mahmood’s asylum system reforms will breach child safety laws and increase homelessness, two government departments have warned.
The Department for Education (DfE) raised concerns that the home secretary’s plan to deport families was “in conflict” with the laws that protect vulnerable children, government sources have said.
The department warned about measures that would allow the Home Office to withdraw financial support for families with children under the age of 18 that have been refused asylum.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has warned that separate plans to revoke the Home Office’s legal obligation to provide asylum seekers with accommodation and financial support would lead to large numbers of people being “left destitute on the streets”.
A source said: “There will be large numbers turning up on the door of local authorities.”
The warnings were submitted by the departments internally in response to Mahmood’s plans to overhaul asylum rules to make Britain significantly less attractive for migrants to come to the UK illegally.
The plans, set out in a 33-page document last week, have faced a backlash from some Labour MPs who have criticised proposals to deport families as “repugnant”.
All refugees will be given temporary status in the UK, which will be reviewed every 30 months and only renewed if it remains unsafe for them to return home. Families will first be offered financial incentives to return home but will face being forcibly removed if they refuse.
The Home Office has confirmed that children born in the UK to refugee parents could be among those deported under the measures.
Small boats that were used by migrants to cross the Channel at a Home Office facility in Dover
DAN KITWOOD/GETTY IMAGES
Mahmood has justified the plans to deport families by arguing that the failure to remove them is creating “perverse incentives” for migrant parents to send children on small boats and for refugees to have children in the UK in order to reduce their chances of being deported.
However, the DfE is understood to have warned that plans to deport families are in conflict with the Children Act, which states that public bodies must always make decisions that prioritise the best interests of vulnerable children.
It risks breaching the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act, which places a legal duty on the Home Office to act in a way that safeguards and promotes the welfare of children.
A “best interests’ assessment” must be made before any removal of a child, which considers their health, education, stability and ties to the UK and decisions must be “child-centred”.
The DfE is understood to have made similar warnings about plans to rip up rules requiring the Home Office to continue to pay financial support to families until their last child turns 18. Under Mahmmod’s reforms, the Home Office will withdraw this support if they have been refused asylum, which will risk leaving families with children homeless.
Her plans will lead to several avenues of financial support being withdrawn. Mahmood announced that she will end the automatic financial support and free accommodation offered to asylum seekers who would otherwise be “destitute” if they are eligible to work. Asylum seekers are given £49.18 a week to cover essential needs such as food, clothing and toiletries. Those who are in accommodation providing meals are given £9.95 a week.
The legal obligation to provide this, which was inherited from EU law, will be scrapped. It means that more than 8,000 asylum seekers with a right to work who are living in taxpayer-funded accommodation will face losing financial support. Asylum seekers are eligible to work after 12 months of arriving in the UK. There are thousands of migrants who have claimed asylum who first arrived in the UK on work or student visas and are still eligible to work.
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Refugees granted asylum will lose their unconditional access to benefits. There are currently 120,000 refugees in receipt of universal credit. The Home Office said that it expects those who are arriving in the UK to seek work and would change the benefits set-up to “prioritise access for those who are making an economic contribution to the UK”.
The Home Office is going to be allowed to force asylum seekers with valuables to contribute to their accommodation cost. This will apply to illegal migrants who have assets such as cars, e-bikes or cash.
A government spokesperson said: “The government has announced sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration, making Britain a less attractive destination and ensuring it is easier to remove and deport those with no right to be here.
“We are committed to ensuring asylum support is fair, targeted, and sustainable, only going to those who are genuinely destitute and actively engaging with the asylum system, not those seeking to exploit it.”