In 2023, shockwaves spread across the UK surrounding hundreds of missing unaccompanied children from Home Office 'emergency' hotels. Concerningly some were found in the control of traffickers. Few professionals were allowed into the hotels which limited the risk evaluation of human (re-)trafficking and exploitation. This study, applying a trauma-informed storytelling methodological approach, investigated the lived experiences of 22 professionals and children. The research provides a voice to children housed in the hotels. Three thematic narratives emerged; Firstly, the hotel placement increased the (re-)trafficking and exploitation risks compared to other accommodations. Secondly, adultification (with racial undertones) resulted in the continued placement of children in adult hotels. These children faced heightened risks of harm compared to those placed in the children's hotels (e.g. lack of education, support and abuses including sexual by hotel staff and other adults). Thirdly, Albanian boys went missing in greater numbers than other children, while targeted by the media and political scapegoating and facing threats of removal under the Illegal Migration Act 2023. We conclude that the trafficking and exploitation risks remain to unaccompanied children. The UK Government must conduct an independent inquiry into the disappearance of children from the hotels to better safeguard unaccompanied children in the future.
Third-party actors have long supported the administration of welfare, through facilitating access to services, providing wraparound support, and advocating for individuals. However, under the Universal Credit 'deductions' scheme - where the DWP can withhold a portion of an individual's benefits to repay debts - third-party actors play a key informational role in formal welfare decisions. While research has begun to explore the operational influence that third-party actors have in the Universal Credit system, this paper provides empirical evidence of how these decision-making structures manifest and impact claimants in practice. Drawing on 28 semi-structured interviews with benefits-claimants, third-sector advisors, and private landlords, this paper explores two central ways in which external actors can intimately affect an individual's claim through data entry. First, through debt creation: when third parties fail to provide accurate information about an individual's circumstances, overpayments occur. Second, through debt collection: an expansive list of creditors can provide debt information to the DWP, and initiate deductions from an individual's award. The findings demonstrate that there are little checks on third-party actions within these roles, leading to a fragmented system and disparate experiences of debt deductions for both creditors and claimants.
