Home Office, Education and Communities and Local Government wrote to leaders setting out an improved funding offer to councils who agree to accept unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) from Kent. Kent has taken responsibility for nearly 1000 UASC arriving from Calais since the summer and although some authorities have offered to help, we argued strongly that many have been prevented from doing so because the initial funding offer did not cover post-18 leaving care costs, which are substantial for this vulnerable group of young people.
The new funding offer now addresses this point. We will continue to press for a long-term national dispersal system for UASC to aid the growing number of councils that are facing high numbers and Government has agreed to work towards this goal.