Council support for lone children
At 31 March 2022, councils were caring for 5,570 UASC. This was an increase of 34 per cent (1,430) on the previous year (though this followed a large decrease of 18 per cent in 2020-21 which was likely caused by the pandemic). 95 per cent (5,290) were male, and 87 per cent (4,870) were 16 and over (source).
On the same date, councils were supporting 11,650 former UASC care leavers aged 17-21. 91 per cent of these were male. Statistics published on 17 November 2022 identified that 26 per cent of care leavers aged 19-21 in England were formerly unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
As arrivals disproportionately affect port authorities, the NTS has been established to move children from the area where they are first identified to care placements around the country. This was first established in 2016 and refreshed in June 2021 to incorporate a UK-wide voluntary rota, to encourage more councils to participate. Funding for councils supporting UASC was also increased at that point.
In November 2021, the Government informed all councils in the UK of its intention to temporarily make participation in the NTS mandatory under section 72 of the Immigration Act 2016. Since February 2022, all councils have been expected to accommodate UASC on a rota system, with the rota taking into account various issues including numbers of children in care and wider asylum pressures. Councils already at the UASC cap do not have to accommodate more children, but are able to if they wish.
There is currently a threshold applied to the numbers of UASC a council is expected to support. While councils are below this threshold, they must participate in the NTS and they cannot refer any UASC who arrive in their area into the NTS. The Government changed the threshold from 0.07 per cent of a council’s child population to 0.1 per cent on 24 August 2022. Councils receive more funding to support children when they are above the 0.07 per cent threshold.
Following lobbying by the LGA and national partners, funding to support UASC has increased significantly in recent years.[1] The funding rates paid paid to councils for 2022/23 are:
- £143 per person per night (councils at or above 0.07%) - £52,195 per year.
- £114 per person per night (councils below 0.07%) - £41,610 per year.
- Where a council below 0.07% accepts a child from a council above 0.07%, the higher rate follows the child. This funding arrangement remains in place despite the increase in the threshold to 0.1 per cent outlined earlier.
Funding for UASC care leavers has also increased, with councils receiving £270 per week (£14,040 per year) per UASC care leaver until the young person reaches 21, or until 25 if they are in education or training.[2] This funding is subject to the young person having eligible immigration status (for example, they have indefinite leave to remain, refugee status or they have an outstanding asylum claim). Councils continue to highlight the additional costs of supporting care leavers with no recourse to public funds.
There have been significant increases in the numbers of children arriving in the UK, largely in small boats off the south coast. In July 2021, the Home Office began placing UASC in hotels as children could not be placed quickly enough via the NTS. On 24 August 2022, in response to growing concerns around the number of children in hotels and the length of time these children were waiting, the Government implemented changes with immediate effect:
- Increase the UASC threshold on when a council can refer UASC into the NTS to 0.1% of a council’s child population.
- Reduce the number of days a council has to transfer a child referred to them from a hotel from 10 working days to 5 working days.
- Councils transferring a child from a hotel within 5 working days will receive an additional £6,000 to support that child.
The Immigration Minister, Robert Jenrick, wrote to councils on 16 December 2022 outlining details of a new funding pilot to support councils to invest in local authority infrastructure to enable movement of children out of hotels. Stage One of this pilot introduces a new conditional lump sum of £15,000 to accompany the transfer of each UASC from a hotel run by the Home Office from the Kent Reception and Safe Care Service. This could be made in advance of a transfer, allowing councils to pool funding to build capacity. The lump sum applies to transfers completed by the end of February 2023.Subject to the success of the first phase in reducing the number of unaccompanied children in hotels, phase two of the pilot will provide funding for councils to directly invest in long term accommodation options and more sustainable placements for UASC.
The mandation of the NTS was intended to reduce the use of hotels, however while rates of transfer have improved,[3] at the start of September 2022 there were still more than 300 children accommodated in 5 hotels, with the fifth opening in Warwickshire days after the changes to the NTS were made in response to a period of particularly high numbers of arrivals. At January 2023, seven hotels were in operation.
3,256 children have been housed in hotels between October 2021 and September 2022, with the average length of time spent in a hotel 16.34 days. The legal framework for this provision remains unclear. As of 19 October 2022, 222 of these young people had gone, and remained, missing.
A report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration in 2021 found that the length of time claimants wait for an initial decision has increased year-on-year since 2011. UASC who received a decision in 2020 had waited on average 550 days. Most are waiting for decisions that will be positive. In the year ending December 2021, 90 per cent of asylum applications from unaccompanied asylum-seeking children were granted; an increase from 78 per cent the previous year.[4]
The age assessment of UASC is a challenging and controversial issue. It is an inexact process, with even “biological methods” such as dental checks or x-rays only offering a minimum age and a broad range of possible ages. Home Office guidance states that all asylum seekers and migrants who claim to be children must be asked for documentary evidence to help establish their age when they are first encountered. Where this is not possible, the principle of “the benefit of the doubt” is applied. Where there is uncertainty about whether the individual is an adult or a child, they should be treated as a child and referred to a local authority with a request for a “Merton compliant age assessment”.[5] Individuals should be treated as adults if their physical appearance and demeanour “very strongly suggests they are significantly over 18 years of age and there is little or no supporting evidence for their claimed age”.
[1] Funding rates introduced with the NTS on July 2016 were £114 per night per child under 16 for all councils, and £91 per child aged 16 or 17. Rates increased in 2020.
[2] Up from a maximum of £200 per week prior to 2020
[5] Much of the guidance and minimum standards for age assessments was set out in a High Court case involving Merton Council