Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-11-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 22 September (HL1905), what is their latest assessment of the financial costs faced by Kent County Council in supporting asylum-seeking children, and what additional funding they are offering that council to help it to do so.

Lord Bates

The Government recognises the outstanding work of Kent County Council in caring for unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC). Home Office officials have met Kent officers to understand the additional financial pressures they facing as a result of the high numbers of UASC in their care and we continue to work through the detail. The Immigration Minister has met the Leader of Kent County Council to discuss the situation.

As well as working with Kent, we believe a national response is required. We are working closely with the Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Children’s Services to finalise plans for a new scheme to disperse unaccompanied child asylum seekers to the care of other local authorities.