Kent pursues legal action against Home Office amid surge in unaccompanied asylum-seeking children

Kent County Council has served a letter before action on the Home Office as it warned that it may no longer be able to accept new unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) “within days”.

The local authority reported that between 1 January and 1 June this year 242 UASC had arrived on Kent shores and been passed to Kent Children’s Services.

Of these, only 52 have been transferred to other local authorities under the voluntary National Transfer Scheme, a situation the local authority said was “unsustainable”.

Kent said that following a similar surge in numbers of UASCs arriving in small boats last year (when the council warned it could not safely meet its statutory duty when it came to its capacity to care), the Home Office and Department for Education had promised to reform national systems.

The county council said: “In the intervening nine months, although the council welcomed government support in the transfer of some UASC out of Kent, assistance with age assessments and additional funding the substantive changes needed to the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) to prevent a repeat have not been made, and once again Kent services are at risk of being overwhelmed by the number of new UASC arrivals by boat, which already stands at 60 more children than at the same time last year.”

The county council, which is calling for a mandatory national transfer scheme, said it had nearly double the number of UASC children in care the government says it is safe to have.

It added that its proposed judicial review asks the Home Secretary to use her existing powers to direct local authorities other than Kent to receive their fair share of UASC.

The letter before action refers to the “refusal and/or continuing failure by the Home Secretary to exercise her powers to prepare a mandatory scheme to transfer some of the functions of KCC in respect of its responsibility to UASC’s to other local authorities in England, and to direct other local authorities in England to comply with that scheme.”

The Director of Children’s Services at Kent has advised the council’s Leader that the current pace of arrivals and strain on care services was likely to mean he would no longer be able to safely accept any further new UASC arrivals in Kent before the end of this week.

Border Forces will then be asked to place new arrivals directly into other local authorities around the country from the port, as they did for three months last year.

Council Leader Roger Gough said: “I am deeply saddened that we are now seeing a repeat of the same crisis of nine months ago.

“While there have been a number of welcome measures from government – to the benefit of the Kent council taxpayer – we have not seen what is most needed: a robust National Transfer Scheme that prevents port authorities such as Kent coming under unmanageable pressure. Over this last year we have argued consistently and repeatedly that this must be done through a mandatory system.”

Cllr Gough added: “The Home Office consulted on changes to the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) in August and September last year and have yet to publish any new proposals or a response to the consultation. The scheme remains voluntary with insufficient incentive for other UK local authorities to transfer UASC from Kent.

“Kent residents deserve a resolution to this issue. We still do not have one. The wholly disproportionate strain on Kent’s Children’s Services continues to be overlooked. We must ensure that all UK local authorities with capacity share in the support of these children.”

Saying that “enough is enough”, Cllr Gough said: “A robust, long-term solution is well overdue and critical for the future welfare of all children supported by KCC, whatever their background, and the continuation of the excellent services that support them.”

In the absence of any substantive Home Office response to the council’s proposal by 17 June 2021, Kent will proceed to issue a claim for judicial review against the Home Secretary.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Those who attempt to cheat the system place an unjust burden on the taxpayer and prevent genuine asylum seekers from getting support. This is why the Government is bringing forward the New Plan for Immigration which will allow us to welcome those most in need through safe and legal routes, while preventing abuse of the system.

“We recognise the longstanding role that Kent County Council has played in supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and are extremely grateful for their contribution. We continue to encourage more areas to join the National Transfer Scheme and do their part.

“We have already consulted on how to improve the Scheme to make it fairer - the outcome of which will be published very shortly.”