Recommendation 30

We recommend that the Home Office strengthens its approach to safeguarding by: a. Ensuring that there is a robust framework for overseeing and auditing how safeguarding policies and processes are applied on the ground by contractors and subcontractors; b. Ensuring that staff working directly with asylum seekers receive adequate safeguarding training; c. Setting performance measures for safeguarding in the contracts, which allow the department to penalise providers who fail to meet safeguarding standards; d. Urgently reviewing its processes for identifying risks and vulnerabilities and sharing these with accommodation providers and statutory partners; and e. Using the data it receives through the Safeguarding Hub to more proactively monitor safeguarding concerns, including outcomes of incidents and referrals. (Recommendation, Paragraph 121) 102 Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children