Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

I am very glad that the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, raised this matter of the withdrawal of funds from the children’s panel. It seems to me incongruous to talk about safeguarding children and, in particular, the disappeared children referred to by the noble Lords, Lord Ramsbotham and Lord Hylton, when the money that might be used to ascertain what has happened to these children and to look after them if they are recovered from whoever took them away has been cut off. We are talking about quite a serious problem. In 2007, 3,500 separated children arrived in the UK from places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia. Until now, the children’s panel has been working to help these young people, who range in age from 10 to 17, to access services and to help them through the asylum system. The advisers on the children’s panel help as many separated children as they can, although their services are concentrated in London and the south-east, through one-to-one casework, and they have drop-in services and surgeries. They work with those who are particularly vulnerable, including those who are trafficked. My impression is that the children who have disappeared, especially those who have been placed in the custody of local authorities, are in fact trafficked and would not have disappeared from the system voluntarily. I feel that someone has a hold on them, enabling them to come from the custody of a foster parent or children’s home or wherever they are located to be used for nefarious purposes within the United Kingdom. I do not think that it is very credible that they would be sent back to West Africa, as the noble Lord, Lord Hylton, suspected is sometimes the case. Why are we cutting off money from the children’s panel at the very moment when we are ostensibly safeguarding the welfare of the children? Does that not seem extremely incongruous, and can the Minister tell us whether there is any possibility that the Government will reconsider this niggardly and untimely stinginess?