Data Sharing Between the UK Visas and Immigration and the Local Authority

The UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is the organisation responsible for securing the United Kingdom border and controlling migration into the UK. They manage border control for the UK, enforcing immigration and customs regulations. They also consider applications for permission to enter or stay in the UK, and for citizenship and asylum.

There have been recent changes to the UKVI family returns process and these changes are likely to lead to requests for greater data sharing between agencies. These requests will be in order to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, a statutory duty that the UKVI shares with a number of other bodies.

This policy and procedure guidance should be read in conjunction with the other chapters in the procedures manual (Part 10, Children from Abroad).

The UKVI is required by to carry out its functions having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Making optimum use of information that relates to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children that is held by other bodies, including Local Authorities can play an important role in this.

The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 can be viewed here.

Sharing such safeguarding and welfare information can be particularly helpful when considering the safe and effective return of children and families who have been determined by both the UKVI and the Judiciary as not having a right to remain in the United Kingdom. Most of these information requests will arise when families have reached a particular stage in the immigration process called the ensured return stage, and a formal, comprehensive plan for family return is being prepared. This is explained below.

In response to the Governments commitment to end the detention of children for immigration purposes, the UK Visas and Immigration introduced in March 2011, a radically different approach to the way it manages all families with children who have no lawful right to remain in the UK and against whom the Border Agency is taking action.

Once a decision has been taken that a family must leave the UK, and any in-country appeal rights have been exhausted, the family will proceed through the new three-stage family returns process. This consists of:

1. Assisted return stage - contact with the Local Immigration Team to support a voluntary return. This includes family conferences to discuss the family's return home, welfare and medical concerns and the availability of tailored assisted voluntary return packages to help families resettle upon their return;
2. Required return stage - for families who fail to take up assistance packages, allowing them to remain in the community, but giving two weeks notice to board their flight home and allowing self check-in without the need for enforcement action; and
3. Ensured return stage - as a last resort for families who refuse to depart the UK. Local Immigration Teams will develop a return plan to achieve a safe and effective return to the homeland. The return plan is designed to safeguard and promote the welfare of any children involved.

As part of the ensured return phase, a new Independent Family Returns Panel (IFRP) has been established for providing expert advice to the UKVI on the method of removal from the UK.

The advice provided by the IFRP will inform the UKVI decision regarding how to return the family and ensure that individual return plans take full account of the welfare of the children involved. The IFRP will also want to be sure that the UKVI is considering up-to-date information that is available and relevant to the safeguarding and welfare needs of the children.

Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 places a duty on specified public bodies and key individuals to carry out their functions having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 places a similar duty on the UKVI.

As part of the new returns procedure, UKVI staff with responsibility for assisting families to return will contact the Authority to check if a family is known, if there are any safeguarding or child protection concerns or any additional needs that any family member may have.

The information will assist the UKVI in meeting their obligation under Section 55, as the primary purpose of this information will be to inform the return plan. At this stage of the process, all other decisions relating to the family’s immigration status will already have been taken.

If the Authority has no knowledge of the family, then usually, no further contact or information will be necessary.

Shared information will help both the UKVI and subsequently the independent family returns panel in ensuring that the return plan for a particular family has taken into account any information held by other agencies that relates to safeguarding, welfare or child protection. It will assist in the formulation of an appropriate plan and help to provide assurance that any needs, be they related to welfare, safeguarding or child protection are identified and addressed as part of a multi-agency approach prior to, and during, a family’s return home.

As part of their consideration of the return plan, IFRP may also request that the Authority provides additional information prior to or after the IFRP’s own case meeting. It is anticipated that this normally will be a request that the child’s allocated social worker or their manager participates in the IFRP meeting (normally by conference call). This request will not be in every case, but in complex and changing situations, as it will serve as an opportunity for the Authority and UKVI case owner, in a multi-agency forum, to share new information relevant to ensuring the safety and well-being of the child and family during the return process.

Nottinghamshire County Council are subscribers to the NRPF Connect system run by the London Borough of Islington via their NRPF Network. NRPF Connect is the national database for councils to record details of households with no recourse to public funds that are being provided with accommodation and financial support by social services.  As such, information relating to unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC), former UASC care leavers, families presenting as having no recourse to public funds (NRPF) status or those with leave to remain applications or involvement with the Home Office around their status in the UK will be shared via NRPF Connect and subsequently the Home Office.

As part of the returns process, Local Immigration Teams will make every attempt to secure consent from individuals and families for the sharing of data between agencies. However, under The General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 the refusal of consent does not prevent the sharing of data, provided other pre-conditions for data sharing are met.

The Data Protection Act 2018 includes 'safeguarding of children and individuals at risk' as one of conditions that allows practitioners to share information with others without consent:

• Information can be shared legally without consent, if a practitioner is unable to/cannot be reasonably expected to gain consent from the individual, or if to gain consent could place a child at risk;
• Relevant personal information can also be shared lawfully if it is to keep a child or individual at risk safe from neglect or physical, emotional or mental harm, or if it is protecting their physical, mental, or emotional well-being.

Practitioners looking to share information without consent should consider which processing condition in the Data Protection Act 2018 is most appropriate in the particular circumstances of the case. This may be the safeguarding processing condition or another relevant provision.

Given the UKVI statutory duty to have regard to and safeguard the welfare of children, and the fact that this data is being obtained principally for the child’s benefit, the sharing of data for the purposes of protecting children’s welfare during the returns process will be lawful.

UKVI will handle all information received from the Authority, in line with data protection principles.

Information provided to UKVI in respect of families will be retained on the relevant Home Office (HO) file and be subject to the standard HO retention and storage policy, approved by the Office of the Information Commissioner.

Information will be shared with the IFRP as part of their considerations. Such information may also potentially be disclosed as part of any valid Freedom of Information request made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Subject Access request under the Data Protection Act 2018. However, this legislation does provide numerous exemptions to protect sensitive or confidential information, and the UKVI would seek to apply those where appropriate. If necessary, the UKVI will liaise with the Authority as to how to handle Freedom of Information requests or Subject Access requests relating to information provided by the Authority.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 can be viewed here.

Further information on the work of the UKVI and immigration into the UK can be viewed here.