Education Secretary urges councils to take in unaccompanied asylum-seeking children following High Court ruling
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan last month urged councils to source placements to help relieve pressures on Kent County Council, which is facing “considerable challenges” in light of a High Court judgment made in July.
In a letter to children’s services directors and lead members, Gillian Keegan MP asked for the support of all local authorities to “help ensure that unaccompanied asylum-seeking (UAS) children are given the care and support that they need”.
On 27 July, the High Court ruled that a decision by Kent County Council (KCC) to cease taking UAS Children was in breach of the Children Act 1989 and that a deal between the Home Office and Kent that capped the number of UAS children the council would take was unlawful.
The court also ruled that the Home Office's policy of placing UAS children in hotels was unlawful when it became “systematic and routine”, and that the Home Secretary has the power to require local authorities to accept UAS Children via the National Transfer Scheme (NTS).
Kent has taken in large numbers of UAS children as a result of its location and has been calling for changes to the NTS for more than two years.
In her letter to local authorities, Keegan wrote: “The High Court judgment handed down on 27 July confirmed the duty on local authorities under the Children Act 1989 to care for all children in their area regardless of immigration status.
“[…] The concentration of arrivals by small boat across the English Channel places by far the greatest expectations on KCC. I am grateful to colleagues at KCC for its ongoing commitment to supporting a number of UAS children at or above the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) threshold level.”
She added: “Every local authority needs to comply with the terms of the mandated NTS, so that the transfer of children from the care of KCC is completed within the timescales set out in the NTS protocol, or sooner.”
She said that councils should “proactively identify” placements within foster care, supported accommodation and children’s home provision, including by encouraging providers to open homes that were registered with Ofsted, but not currently operating.
In a joint statement, Roger Gough, Leader of Kent County Council and Sue Chandler, Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services said: “It is with deep regret that, due to ever escalating arrivals and a wholly inadequate National Transfer Scheme, KCC has once again been forced into the position of being unable to meet both its statutory duties to care for every unaccompanied child newly arriving or already resident in Kent and care for them safely, and discharge all of its other duties towards vulnerable children and young people in Kent.
“Since the judgment that KCC must take every newly arrived unaccompanied asylum-seeking child on Kent shores as well as every child already resident in Kent who requires to be taken into its care four weeks ago, 489 newly arrived UAS children have been referred into Kent’s Children’s Services. This number far exceeds the total number of referrals into most other UK local authorities Childrens’ Services in a year.
“Transfers of UAS children from Kent to other local authorities have numbered just 136 in the same period. Currently KCC has 315 more UAS children in the council’s care than the 0.1% (346) threshold under the NTS.
“We are not able to deal with this international issue alone without a properly managed and effective NTS. This continues to have significant implications for our county and all children and young people who require services under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989, whether they arrive as asylum seekers or already reside in Kent.”
The council has not commented directly on the letter from Gillian Keegan.
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
Lottie Winson
