Children, Young People & Skills Committee

Agenda Item 51(a)

Subject:                    Take Action to Protect Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children in Brighton & Hove

Petition

Date of meeting:    6 March 2023

Ward(s) affected:   All

For general release

1. SUMMARY AND POLICY CONTEXT:

1.1       To receive the following e-Petition which was submitted via the council’s    website on 2 February 2023.

2. RECOMMENDATIONS:

2.1      That the Committee responds to the petition either by noting it, or where it is

            considered more appropriate, by calling for an officer report on the matter.

3.      CONTEXT / BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

3.1       To receive the following petition signed by 40 people at the time of                                    publication:

We the undersigned petition Brighton & Hove Council to publicly                                          acknowledge that they have failed the 136 children who have gone and                              continue to go missing from a hotel in our city — and commit to using all of                        their influence and power to produce and implement a viable plan of action         to safeguard these children immediately.

            Since the Home Office began housing asylum seekers in hotels in Brighton                       and Hove in July, 2021, over 136 children have gone missing from Home                                   Office run hotels in Brighton and Hove alone.