Recommendation 23

HM Government · verbatim extract Accepted in Part

Government Response In relation to the recommendations at paragraphs 139 and 140, every effort is made to protect the health of pregnant women, new mothers and their babies when considering relocation. No single solution is likely to be in the interests of all pregnant women and each case is sympathetically considered on its own merits. Relocating pregnant women away from the area in which they are living and receiving maternity care, and in which they can access social and family support, should be avoided wherever possible. Relocation for pregnant service users should not take place within six weeks of their due date and for at least six weeks after giving birth, unless requested by the service user, or if unavoidable. If relocation is unavoidable, for example, to assure the safety and wellbeing of a pregnant service user and/or their unborn or new-born child, then particular care is taken when arranging accommodation. Where relocation needs to take place in the late stages of pregnancy, caseworkers should liaise closely with health teams to ensure that all issues relating to the set up and/or effective handover of care, including any referrals to maternity services at the dispersal destination are completed before the dispersal takes place. If someone believes they are being moved contrary to this policy or against medical advice, we urge this to be raised with Migrant Help for swift investigation. The Maternal Health Sub-Group was established in 2021 and has worked with both internal and external stakeholders including Public Health England, NHS colleagues, third sector organisations and internal Policy and Safeguarding teams, to develop the departmental policy and guidance around pregnant women and new mothers. The group has worked in collaboration with the Routing and Initial Accommodation Validation (RIAV) team to revise the access to accommodation form to ensure that accommodation needs relating to maternal health and other vulnerabilities/healthcare needs are captured at the beginning of the asylum process. The group has also led on a suite of work to ensure that this information is captured and included in any Service Commissioning Form (SCF) and accommodation requests issued, so that providers are aware of specific accommodation needs. The Specialist Casework Team’s Standard Operating procedures have been enhanced to include requirements for pregnant women and new mothers, as well as those with markers for Suicide, Self-Harm and PVoT. Alongside our providers, we routinely ask service users if they wish to declare health or pregnancy matters for us to better meet accommodation needs and therefore in such cases there is a limited and lawful basis for us collect such information. There is, however, no necessity or requirement for service users to provide such information. We have established mechanisms, such as through the Asylum Support Form (ASF1), to collect and record data on pregnancy in way that enables us to meet individual’s needs and processes in place to assure that services are being delivered suitably. The Home Office is also now making provision for pregnant women, babies and infants who are accommodated in Initial Accommodation (IA), inclusive of hotels, to receive weekly support payments. This provision is already in place for Dispersed Accommodation (DA). Payments will commence upon grant of s.95 support. Current weekly rates are £3 pregnancy, £5 baby (0-1) and £3 infants (1-3). Where an asylum seeker has been identified to be pregnant, all relevant provisions including suitable accommodation will be provided as a matter of urgency.