International Rail Services: Kent and Sussex

Posted on November 2, 2023 by ianchisnall

Last Wednesday on 25th October 2023 there was a discussion in Parliament which was initially set out with the title International Rail Services: Kent which was initially from Damian Green who is the MP for Ashford. However after he had initially stated his suggestions the next person who spoke was Sally-Ann Hart who is the Hastings and Rye MP. Along with her comments there was also a response from Louie French who is MP of Old Bexley and Sidcup. At the end of the session the Minister was Huw Merriman who is the MP for Bexhill and Battle. All of these four people did refer to the Sussex aspect. The whole discussion is available here, and here are some of the Sussex references, along with the first words from Damian.

Damian Green: I am grateful for the chance to bring to the House an issue that is of huge importance not just to my constituents in Ashford, but to many people across the whole county of Kent, and indeed beyond: the withdrawal of the international services, which used to stop at Ashford and Ebbsfleet, but which were stopped when the pandemic meant the temporary end of international travel, and which have not subsequently been restored by Eurostar. I know that my hon. Friend the Minister will be aware of the successful history of the service, which has been running from Ashford since 1996. It has contributed significantly to economic growth in the area, taking advantage of the geographical proximity to the European mainland to drive economic development, and particularly inward investment. It also, of course, provided a large new leisure market, with people from across Kent having easy access to Disneyland Paris and, at other times of the year, quick journeys to the ski slopes. There is demonstrably huge potential for the Kent stations.

Sally-Ann Hart: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the international trains running from Ashford enhance connectivity, boost tourism, stimulate economic growth, promote cultural exchange and have environmental benefits for the coastal towns across Kent and east Sussex, including beautiful Hastings and Rye?

Damian Green: My hon. Friend is completely right. As she will have heard, I made the point that this is of great interest to people not just across Kent but beyond. Certainly, she is a great champion for Hastings, and I agree that the effects of high-speed rail, in this case international rail, can spread prosperity and the opportunities that travel can bring far and wide from the station.

Louie French: My right hon. Friend makes the case very well about the opportunities for people in Sussex and the coastal towns, but does he agree that that also applies to people in the north of Kent and the south-east London area, as it is still much quicker for them to access Ashford International for those journeys?

And then a bit later there was a statement made by Huw Merriman that included Sussex

Huw Merriman: I thank my right hon. Friend Damian Green for securing the debate on this important issue, which is very close to my heart; I am a constituency neighbour to my hon. Friend Sally-Ann Hart, who made an intervention, and my right hon. Friend is of course just across the border from me in Kent.

My right hon. Friend has worked tirelessly in campaigning on this matter on behalf of the people of Ashford and the wider Kent area, and I salute him for his work. As I mentioned, as the Member for a constituency that is not too far away from his, I share my right hon. Friend’s disappointment that Ebbsfleet and Ashford stations do not currently receive international services. I fully recognise the important benefits that high-speed international rail services provide for the areas and communities they serve, including for people and businesses in Kent and its surrounds. I should state that I was a frequent user of the service, having come across the coastline from East Sussex to Kent, and I would like to be able to do that again.

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A recall for Audio Visual in Parliament

Posted on November 1, 2023 by ianchisnall

Robert Wilf Stevenson is a Labour member of the House of Lords from Scotland and on Thursday last week he submitted a written question about Audio Visual for Parliament and his document was responded by a Government Minister John Gardiner. These are the items which can be seen here and both the question and the answer are very brief, although they are important. It would be very interesting to see if our Industry will be invited to provide systems for them?

Robert Stevenson: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what plans the House of Lords has to provide a facility within the Palace of Westminster for Members to organise screenings of high-quality audio-visual work.

John Gardiner: It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

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Scotland Secondary School Teachers with STEM & IET

Posted on October 31, 2023 by ianchisnall

Last Thursday there was a discussion in the Scottish Parliament that is entitled of Secondary School Teachers (Action on Numbers). The MSP that began the session is Jamie Green who is a member of the Scottish Conservatives. He opened the discussion with the question “To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of new secondary school teachers.” The Scottish Government member that responded is Jenny Gilruth and she responded to his question and he then asked another question which is below that includes a comment about STEM. There was also a question from an SNP member and then finally a question from Pam Duncan-Glancy who is a Labour member and she asked about STEM and also referred to the Institute of Engineering and Technology and Jenny responded at the end of the session. All of the text can be obtained from here and here are the specific questions and answers.

Jamie Green: The cabinet secretary must be disappointed that, last year, more than 800 vacancies went unfilled in our secondary schools. There is widespread concern about the lack of science, technology, engineering and mathematics teachers, particularly in rural areas. The golden hello, which is aimed at addressing shortages of rural teachers, has reaped disappointingly low levels of interest and take-up. Why is the Government struggling to meet its own targets for recruiting into secondary schools? More important, what reassurances can the Government offer parents and pupils that they will not be facing reduced subject choice because there are simply not enough teachers available to teach certain subjects?

Jenny Gilruth: I recognise Jamie Greene’s interest in the area. I know that he has asked a number of written parliamentary questions recently. He mentioned the golden hello. I declare an interest, having ticked the box back in 2008 and gone to Elgin for a year to teach. The preference waiver payment provides probationary teachers with an additional payment, as the member has alluded to.

More broadly, there has been a change in relation to how people engage with the system. I held a round-table meeting with probationers just before parliamentary recess and heard from them a number of different approaches to how they regard their employment, with people perhaps being less likely to move than they might have been in the past. We need to recognise that challenge, particularly in relation to Jamie Greene’s points on specific subjects.

We have a teaching bursary scheme, which gives bursaries of up to £20,000 for career changers wishing to undertake a one-year postgraduate qualification in the hard-to-fill STEM subjects that Jamie Greene alluded to, including physics, maths, technical education, computing, science, chemistry and home economics. That scheme has been extended to include Gaelic as a secondary subject and Gaelic medium across all secondary subjects and at primary level.

It is worth my while to point out that, since December 2014, the number of schoolteachers in Scotland has increased by 8 per cent. However, I recognise that there are subject-specific challenges, particularly in secondary schools. I have commissioned the strategic board for teacher education to look at the issue in further detail and to provide me with greater advice on how we can support the challenge.

Pam Duncan-Glancy: The Institution of Engineering and Technology has highlighted some of the problems that it is seeing in finding STEM teachers. I welcome the cabinet secretary’s comments about bursaries. However, in that organisation’s report, it asked for a review of those bursaries, because they are not attracting people who work in STEM sectors to change careers and go into teaching. What more can the cabinet secretary do to attract those people into teaching?

Jenny Gilruth: Pam Duncan-Glancy raises an important point. She has touched on some of the additionality that we have provided, which I outlined in my response to Jamie Greene. There have been historical challenges in a number of different subjects over a number of years. For example, there are gender divides in the teaching of physics and maths, and we need to be cognisant of that and encourage more women into the teaching of those subjects and more generally.

I am more than happy to meet Pam Duncan-Glancy to talk about opportunities in this regard. Although I will not commit to a review while on my feet today, I am more than happy to look at the issue in a bit more detail. In our secondary school recruitment process specifically, there are gaps in certain subject areas, and we need to be cognisant that different action will be needed to respond to those challenges accordingly.

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Some significant and unusual vote patterns

Posted on October 30, 2023 by ianchisnall

(This piece was published in the Brighton Argus today – 30th October 2023) This week marks the second week of Parliament opening after all of the Party conferences have finished. There was a noticeable reduction in the amount of published information available about planned Government activity for the week ahead and some significant and unusual patterns of voting behaviour by the MP’s focussed around two particular Bills.

On Tuesday there were two clauses for the “Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill” with Government endorsing both and Labour and several other political parties opposing. However, the Sussex Conservative MPs Peter Bottomley, Tim Loughton, Ministers Nick Gibb, Andrew Griffith and Labour Hove MP Peter Kyle did not vote for either of them. On Wednesday there were seven clauses set out for two bills, the “Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill” and the “Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill”.  The Sussex MPs that did not vote were Nick Gibb, Andrew Griffith and Tim Loughton. Henry Smith ignored two of the seven clauses and Sally-Ann Hart ignored one of the clauses.

In the previous week a total of nineteen items requiring a vote of which seventeen related to the “Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill” including Clauses all of which were endorsed by the Government and which were opposed by Labour apart from two items which were “Power to replace Health and Safety Executive as building safety regulator” and “Planning application fees”.  The two groups that challenged those two clauses were the Liberal Democrats and Caroline Lucas the MP for Brighton Pavilion. There was one other a single clause for a Bill entitled “Energy Bill [Lords]” that Government supported but which was rejected by Labour and other groups. The other proposed Bill was “Devolution (Employment) (Scotland)” organised by the SNP and which was primarily disregarded by both the Conservative and Labour.

Most of the Sussex Conservative MPs and one of the Labour MPs voted in favour of both Bills. However, two Sussex MPs Nusrat Ghani the MP for Wealden, a government minister, and Peter Kyle the Labour MP for Hove, did not vote. Huw Merriman, the Bexhill and Battle MP and government minister only voted for the single “Energy Bill [Lords]” in that week. Nick Gibb the MP Bognor Regis and Littlehampton voted for nearly all the Clauses within both Bills However, he ignored the “Clause 87 – National development management policies: meaning” which was significant. The other Sussex minister who agreed with some of the Clauses is Gillian Keegan the Chichester MP. She signed for nine out of nineteen but declined eight of them. She ignored all four of the “Clause 1 – Statement of levelling-up missions” and three others.  One other Sussex Conservative MP voted very differently. Peter Bottomly the Worthing West MP and the Father of the House did vote for twelve of the clauses but he ignored three of them and was even more radical to vote against two of the items. He was not the only Conservative to vote against the Government, there were not many, but he was the only one in Sussex. His vote against the Government was “Clause 1 – Statement of levelling-up missions” and “After Clause 70 – Local authorities to be allowed to meet virtually”.

Caroline Lucas voted against all of Government items for the “Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill” and did not vote on the “Energy Bill [Lords]” session. However, one very significant vote was connected to the document proposed by SNP. David Linden from the SNP stated at the beginning

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend the Scotland Act 1998 to grant legislative competence for employment matters to the Scottish Parliament.

Caroline Lucas was the only MP to vote in agreement with the motion. The proposal also obtained votes from eighteen SNP members, two Plaid Cymru MPs from Wales and previous Labour MPs, now called Independent, in Wales and two MPs from Northern Ireland that are linked to Labour. Interestingly it was rejected by 32 individual Conservative MPs, two of which from Sussex, Tim Loughton from East Worthing and Shoreham and Sally-Ann Hart from Hastings and Rye.

Along with the voting there were two Sussex MPs who participated about the “Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill” session. They were Peter Bottomley who stated

I congratulate the Minister on the way she presented the Government’s approach to these over 100 amendments— on heaven knows how many pages, if one tries to read through them. I also congratulate the Opposition spokesperson, Matthew Pennycook, on martialling the points and presenting them in a way that the House can understand. In particular, I join him in saying to the Government that Lord Crisp’s proposals have much that should be incorporated…The amendment addresses a whole series of issues that did not get as much attention as they should have done. When developers are able to convert office blocks into homes, some of those homes are, frankly, substandard.

Caroline Lucas stated

I very much agree with the point that the Father of the House has just made. Does he agree that healthy homes should incorporate the idea of green space and more equitable access to good-quality green space within reach of those homes, as set out in the Lord’s amendment? We know about the improvements to physical and mental health that can come as a result of access to green space.

It seems relevant to question the reasoning MP’s use for voting and it is fair that constituencies have an answer.

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What the Government help support women in STEM?

Posted on October 28, 2023 by ianchisnall

This question came from two MPs on Wednesday this week at the beginning of a session entitled Women in STEM Jobs. The responses from the Government Minister is the Lewes MP Maria Caulfield who I have met in the past when she was a Brighton Councillor. The initial questions came from David Duguid who is the Conservative MP for Banff and Buchan which is North of Scotland and Maggie Throup who is the Conservative MP for Erewash in Derbyshire. Their question is

What steps the Government are taking to help support women in STEM roles.

The response to this question came from Maria below

We have made great progress in increasing the number of girls studying STEM—science, technology, engineering and maths—subjects. Our challenge now is to do more to get them into STEM jobs. To support that, we launched a scheme called STEM returners, as one of our programmes to grow the skills of people who have taken a career break. We have so far had 42 women in our first cohort and 54 have signed up for our second cohort, getting women with experience and skills back into STEM jobs.

There was then additional questions from both of these Conservative MPs and then there is also additional questions from two other MPs, one of which is a SNP MP from Scotland and the other is the DUP MP leader from North Ireland. All of the comments can be seen here. The final question is from Jim Shannon from the DUP

I thank the Minister for that answer. In Northern Ireland, women are under-represented in STEM industries. Only 15% of women in Northern Ireland study core STEM subjects, compared to 36% of men. That is a clear anomaly that needs to be addressed. May I encourage the Minister to use her office to engage with the Department for the Economy to encourage more uptake in university STEM subjects? Women can do the job every bit as well as a man given that opportunity.

The answer is

I thank the hon. Member for that question. That goes to the point raised by my hon. Friend David Duguid. We need a UK approach. Across the Government, whether in the Department for Work and Pensions or the Department for Education, we focus on trying to improve all avenues for those, particularly women, who want to go into STEM areas.

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Government claims work with social media companies

Posted on October 25, 2023 by ianchisnall

On Thursday 19th October the Labour MP for Hove, Peter Kyle submitted a question that focussed on whether the Government has received written responses from all the social media companies and Michelle Donelan who is a Minister and the Conservative MP for Chippenham in Wiltshire answered his question. However so far 3 people have raised that they disagree with it. It would be interesting to find out from Peter if he would like to raise this theme when Parliament reopens? It would also be very interesting for all of us to respond on this theme, the question and answer can be seen below and it can be obtained here.

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has received written responses from all the social media companies she met on 11 October 2023.

Michelle Donelan: The Government is continuing to work closely with social media companies to understand the policies and processes they have in place to prevent harmful and illegal content from being dispersed online, and their crisis management response.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is engaging with individual companies and will be keeping the approach under continual review.

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Israel and Gaza spoke in Parliament yesterday

Posted on October 24, 2023 by ianchisnall

Last week there were several themes focused in the Parliament that can be seen here in my blog yesterday that was printed in the Brighton Argus yesterday. Along with the items I mentioned yesterday from last week, I have now spotted a couple more items that took place yesterday on 23rd October. One was in the Parliament in the early afternoon and the second one was in the House of Lords which took place at the end of yesterday. The one in Parliament involved the Prime Minister and one of the MPs who took part was Caroline Lucas from Brighton Pavilion who also took place last week in Parliament. So here are some of the Parliament session items that includes the question from Caroline and the answer from Rishi Sunak.

Caroline Lucas: I was pleased to hear the Prime Minister talk of the need to get fuel into Gaza, but as Hywel Williams said, that was not referenced in yesterday’s joint statement, even though fuel is due to run out in the next few days and without it there will be no water, no functioning hospitals, no bakeries and so on. Can I press the Prime Minister on a question that he has not been prepared to answer so far: does he consider the withholding of fuel to be in line with the Government of Israel’s obligations to act within international law?

Rishi Sunak: The Government of Israel will manage their behaviour in line with international law. Our job is to ensure that we get aid into the region, and that is what we are focused on doing.

And here is the beginning of the House of Lords session with the initial words from Nicholas True.

Lord True: My Lords, I shall now repeat a Statement made in another place. The Statement is as follows:

“Mr Speaker, last week I visited the Middle East, bringing a message of solidarity with the region against terror and against the further spread of conflict. I met with the leaders of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority to co-ordinate our response to the crisis before us, but also to renew the better vision of the future that Hamas is trying to destroy.

I travelled first to Israel. It is a nation in mourning, but it is also a nation under attack. The violence against Israel did not end on 7 October. Hundreds of rockets are launched at its towns and cities every day, and Hamas still hold around 200 hostages, including British citizens. In Jerusalem, I met some of the relatives, who are suffering unbearable torment. Their pain will stay with me for the rest of my days. I am doing everything in my power, and working with all our partners, to get their loved ones home. In my meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Herzog, I told them once again that we stand resolutely with Israel in defending itself against terror, and I stressed again the need to act in line with international humanitarian law and take every possible step to avoid harming civilians. It was a message delivered by a close friend and ally. I say it again: we stand with Israel.

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MPs take part in debates on the crisis in Gaza

Posted on October 23, 2023 by ianchisnall

(This piece was published in the Brighton Argus today – 23rd October 2023 under the headline of “Our MPs in Parliament”) This week, the second in Parliament following the break from the Party Political Conferences contains plans for a number of contributions from our local MPs including a theme from the last two years that should at least persuade them to participate and reflect on the views that a number of local residents think is important.

There is a discussion today relating to two e-petitions submitted two years ago. The first is “Make it a criminal offence for MPs to mislead the public” which achieved 110,966 signatures and it closed down in May 2021. The text included

A new offence should be created and legal sanctions should be introduced to stop MPs intentionally or recklessly misleading the public. This could restore a degree of trust in the UK’s political system.

All areas of Sussex have endorsed this with the most significant being Mid Sussex, Brighton and Hove, Hastings and Rye. The other item is “Make lying in the House of Commons a criminal offence” that received 133,008 signatures and closed in October 2021. The text included

The Government should introduce legislation to make lying in the House of Commons a criminal offence. This would mean that all MPs, including Ministers, would face a serious penalty for knowingly making false statements in the House of Commons, as is the case in a court of law.

All areas of Sussex have supported this but the most significant quantity of signatures are Worthing, Brighton and Hove and Lewes. The MP organising this event is Martyn Day a SNP member for the Linlithgow and East Falkirk.

On Wednesday in Westminster Hall there is a session organised by Caroline Ansell the Eastbourne MP the discussion is described “Government support for a circular economy”

On Tuesday a Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee which includes Lloyd Russell-Moyle from Brighton Pavilion the text is described “Pre-appointment Hearing: Chair of the House of Lords Appointment Commission” and there is Education Committee with Caroline Ansell about “Ofsted’s work with schools”. On Wednesday an Energy Security and Net Zero Committee which Lloyd Russell-Moyle plans to be present. The text is “Keeping the power on: our future energy technology mix”. Thursday sees the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee which again includes Lloyd Russell-Moyle and the text is “Pre-appointment Hearing: Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL)” 

Along with the contributions that are taking place this week there were several unplanned statements and debates promoting the views of many of our local MPs. The most significant element last Monday which the Government opened up is entitled “Israel and Gaza” which is obviously a matter of great importance. Rishi Sunak was the first to contribute. He started with

The attacks in Israel last weekend shocked the world. Over 1,400 people murdered one by one; over 3,500 wounded; almost 200 taken hostage; the elderly, men, women, children and babes in arms murdered, mutilated, burned alive. We should call it by its name: it was a pogrom. The families of some of the missing are in the Public Gallery today. We call for the immediate release of all hostages, and I say to them, “We stand with you. We stand with Israel.”

Keir Starmer spoke next followed by Peter Bottomley, the MP for Worthing West and the Father of the House of Commons. His contribution included

The House will be grateful to both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition for the lead that they have given in today’s statement.

And then

If we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we want to try to bring security, both to the people of Israel and to the Palestinians in Gaza. Does the Prime Minister know that he will have our support as he tries to do that?

The Prime Minister responded

I thank the Father of the House for what he has said, and I simply agree with his constituent in saying that all of us will pray for peace in the region

Two other Sussex MPs contributed, Henry Smith, the MP for Crawley and also Caroline Lucas, the Brighton Pavilion MP who included

The killing of over 2,600 civilians by the IDF is not only a humanitarian catastrophe but risks driving the deadly cycle of violence still further. I welcome the Prime Minister’s statement that he is straining every sinew to keep the flame of peace and stability alive, so will he listen to those UN experts calling for a ceasefire?

Last Tuesday the Leeds East Labour MP, Richard Burgon published an Early Day Motion which is called “Protecting civilians in Gaza and Israel” So far there have been 73 MP signatures who have endorsed including Caroline Lucas, Lloyd Russell-Moyle and Peter Bottomley.  Last Wednesday a debate entitled “Gaza: Al-Ahli Arab Hospital Explosion” was proposed by David Lammy the Labour MP for Tottenham and the Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs. He began with the call

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs if he will make a statement on the explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza.

Both Peter Bottomley and Caroline Lucas took part and contributed for Sussex.

It is very significant that in the last few days two new e-petitions have emerged which relate to Israel and Gaza both achieving more than 100,000 signatures so far. Both have been endorsed in Sussex and many people support them.

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The political focus of brownfield lands for Sussex

Posted on October 22, 2023 by ianchisnall

On Monday last week there was a session that took place in Parliament which is entitled “Brownfield Land: Development – Levelling Up, Housing and Communities” which was organised by Henry Smith who is the Conservative MP for Crawley and the other Sussex MP who took part was Peter Bottomley who is the Conservative MP for Worthing West. The other MPs who took part were John Spellar who is the Labour MP for Warley, Tim Farron who is the Liberal Democrat for, Priti Patel who is the Conservative MP for Witham and Barry Sheerman who is the Labour MP for Huddersfield. The Minister that responded was Michael Gove who is the Secretary for Levelling up Housing and Communities. So here are the comments from Henry Smith and Peter Bottomley and the responses from Michael Gove and here is the location for the whole of the discussion.

Henry: What his policy is on the use of brownfield land for new developments.

Michael: The Government strongly encourage the reuse of suitable brownfield land. Our national planning policy framework makes it clear that local authorities should give substantial weight to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements for homes and other identified needs. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill will further empower local leaders to regenerate urban centres by strengthening and adding to existing measures.

Henry: Homes England proposes to build up to 10,000 houses on greenfield sites west of Ifield in my constituency. What directive has my right hon. Friend’s Department given to the executive agency Homes England on the Department’s brownfield-first building policy?

Michael: I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that question. I cannot go into individual planning cases, but Homes England is leading a programme of urban regeneration. The work that we are doing in London’s docklands and in Leeds, Sheffield, Wolverhampton and other areas demonstrates our commitment both to levelling up and to making sure that, for environmental and economic reasons, we develop brownfield land first.

And here is the Peter Bottomley item

Peter: My right hon. Friend may know that, in Durrington in north-west Worthing, more than 1,000 new homes have been built. Will he ask his inspectors—and the Leader of the Opposition—to recognise that Chatsmore Farm and Lansdowne Nurseries should not be built on? We must have some green fields between one habitation and another.

Michael: The Father of the House makes a very important point. Of course, his beautiful constituency—situated as it is between the sea and areas of outstanding natural beauty—has already seen significant development and we do need to ensure that settlements have the green belts around them protected.

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How many unaccompanied children are housed in hotels?

Posted on October 21, 2023 by ianchisnall

Yesterday (Friday 20th October) Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion submitted a written question to the Government and her question is “To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children are being housed in arranged hotel accommodation as of September 2023; and if she will make a statement.”. The response from the question is available from here and this is what Robert Jenrick, the Government Minister responded.

Under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, the Home Office has a legal obligation to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.

The high number of UASC arrivals, particularly as a result of small boat crossings, has placed unprecedented pressure on the National Transfer Scheme. Out of necessity we accommodated UASC on an emergency and temporary basis in hotels while placements with local authorities have been vigorously pursued. The Home Office have put in place further funding throughout 2023-24 of £6,000 for every unaccompanied child moved from a UASC hotel to a local authority within five working days to encourage quicker transfers into local authority care.

We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in emergency interim hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.

All local authorities are under a mandatory duty to comply with the National Transfer Scheme and significant work is underway to support them in fulfilling their statutory duty to accommodate unaccompanied children nationwide.

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