Case No. UKUT-00227-(IAC)

2.16. Recruitment and vetting procedures must ensure that new members of staff andthose existing employees who move to posts with contact with children work safely and competently with children. The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 will establisha new vetting and barring scheme for those who work with children and vulnerable adults which the UK Border Agency will implement.2.17. The UK Border Agency complaints systems will be reviewed, and adapted if necessary, to ensure that they are suitably accessible to children. WORK WITH INDIVIDUAL CHILDREN 2.18. This guidance cannot cover all the different situations in which the UK Border Agency comes in to contact with children. Staff need to be ready to use their judgement in howto apply the duty in particular situations and to refer to the detailed operational guidance which applies to their specific area of work. In general, staff should seek to be as responsive as they reasonably can be to the needs ofthe children with whom they deal, whilst still carrying out their core functions.2.19. It may be helpful to set out here, byway of example, some of the key policy commitments which apply at different stages of the process: • W here there is doubt on a r r i v al or subsequently about who is caring for the c hild staff m ust ta k e action, for instance b y seeking evidence that a pa r ticular named adult is caring for the child with the parent’s consent. • Special care m ust be ta k en when dealing with unaccompanied asylum seeking c hildren, for instance b y c he c king with them that they understand the process for making and resolving their asylum claim, and ensuring that the p h ysical settings in whi c h their applications are dealt with are as c hild-friendly as possible to ensure that the c hild feels safe and protected. • W hen unaccompanied or s e parated c hildren are being esco r ted from their no r mal place of residence to a po r t where rem o v al will ta k e plac e , they m ust be subject to detention procedures in the sense of being served with formal notice whilst the supervised escort is taking place. Other than in these situations,unaccompanied or separated children must be detained only in the most exceptional circumstances whilst other arrangements for their care and safety are made. • F amilies who h a v e no right to be in this count r y m ust be encoura g ed to le a v e v oluntarily and detention should be used only as a last reso r t and for the sho r test possible tim e . • During any period of detention, reasonable steps should be taken to ensure that a child is able to continue his or her education, maintain contact with friends, and practise his or her religion. • F amily detention a r ran g ements m ust respect as fully as possible the principle that the prima r y responsibility for a c hild during this time still rests with the parent s . • W hen c hildren h a v e to be transpo r ted from one v e n ue to anothe r , only suitable v ehicles are used. • Nursing mothers and their c hildren m ust not be s e parated at any sta g e unless there is a compelling reason that involves the safety of the child (for instance, an accompanying parent has threatened to harm the child). Other than in the most urgent circumstances involving the safety of the child, such a decision must be made and supervised by a qualified children’s social worker.2.20. There should also be recognition that children cannot put on hold their growth or personal development until a potentially lengthy application process is resolved. Every effort must therefore be made to achieve timely decisions for them.2.21. In co-operation with the bodies qualified to plan for children’s futures, including Local Authority Children’s Services, schools, primary and specialist health services, arrangementsmust be put in place to secure the support needed by the individual child as they mature and develop into adulthood. Unless it is clear from the outset that a child’s future is going to be in the UK, these arrangements willnecessarily involve planning for the possibility that children and their families may have tobe returned to their countries of origin (or in some cases the EU country in which they first claimed asylum).2.22. The UK Border Agency must always make a referral to a statutory agency responsible for child protection or child welfare such as the police, the Health Service, or the Children’s Department of a Local Authority14 in the following circumstances: • W hen a potential indicator of ha r m (the most comprehens i v e su c h list is found in W o r king T ogether to S afegua r d Child r en who ha v e been T r afficked 15 and their application is wider than traffi c king cases alone) has been identified. • W hen a c hild appears to h a v e no adult to care for them and the Local A uthority has not been notified. • W hen the c hild appears to be cared for b y a person who is not a close relat i v e (i. e . where a pr i v ate fostering a r ran g ement has been identified). T he Children Act 1989 ( P a r t IX, section 66) defines pr i v ately fostered c hildren. All professionals and a g encies that w ork with c hildren m ust establish the relationship that exists bet w een any c hild and those who care for him or he r . If that relationship appears to be a pr i v ate fostering relationship — or if the relationship cannot be established — a refe r ral to the rele v ant Local A uthority m ust be mad e . 14 All r efe r ences to a Local Authority he r e in Par t 2 should be taken as a r efe r ence to Local Authority Child r en’s Ser vices in England and W ales and Scotland . In Nor the r n I r eland this will be the local Health and Social Ca r e T r ust. 15 W orkin g T ogethe r t o Safegua r d Child r e n wh o hav e bee n T raf f icke d issue d b y Hom e Of f ic e an d DCS F , Decembe r 2007 . Th e i n d i c a t o r s a r e r ep r oduce d a t Anne x A . Separat e guidanc e fo r W ale s w a s issue d b y th e W els h Assembl y Gove r nmen t i n Apri l 2008 . • W hen a c hild is a potential victim of traffi c kin g . • W hen a c hild is identified as h a ving r un awa y from their parent s , or where they are loo k ed after b y a Local A uthority and h a v e g one missing from their care placement 16 .