Greg Mulholland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2014-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training immigration officials receive in relation to handling extremely sensitive and emotional situations; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley

Dealing with sensitive and emotional situations is part of the training provided to all staff in Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and UK Visas and Immigration and includes keeping children safe, human trafficking and diversity and equality. Depending on their role, immigration officials also receive further training on duty of care; interviewing vulnerable people; handling sensitive gender and sexual orientation claims and issues faced by victims of human trafficking. The training highlights warning signs to look for when dealing with vulnerable people and how to refer them to other statutory agencies that have protection or welfare roles.

There are assurance processes in place to make sure that required standards are continuing to be met. This includes the independent observation and assessment
of operational activity on a regular basis to ensure that officers are carrying out their duties appropriately and that staff handle situations sensitively and
proportionately.