Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 20 November were an accurate record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

RESOLVED that the Select Committee on Corporate Parenting be congratulated on their report and that the launch of the Select Committee on Grammar Schools and Social Mobility be noted.

1.    At the request of the Chairman, Mr Lymer provided an introduction to the subject of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC), briefly summarising the scale of the challenge.

2.    Mr Ireland explained that the Specialist Children Service’s experience in 2015 was unprecedented; with more than 650 additional children coming into care.  As of 11 December, there were 994 under 18 UASC, with more than 400 over 18 care leavers still linked with KCC.

3.    To address the influx, the Committee was advised that new reception centres had been opened and 30 additional locum social workers had been employed.  Due to the exceptional demand for placements, KCC has been forced to use independent foster carers which involved increased costs.

4.    Mr Ireland reassured the Committee that significant liaison had taken place with central government to identify a solution.  Letters had already been sent to all other County Councils requesting support in facilitating accommodation and support for UASC coming into care and numerous Secretaries of State had signed a letter sent to councils supporting the development of a voluntary dispersal scheme.  However only two authorities had responded to the request from Government, offering to take very limited numbers.

5.    In light of the significant financial and staff implications, along with the limited response from other authorities, Mr Ireland advised the Committee that legislation would likely be required to address the matter appropriately.  This would entail the development of legal obligations to disperse UASC arrivals in a fair manner that met the needs of the children and did not overburden individual authorities.  Mr Ireland clarified, that the only legislation in place that covered local authority responsibilities for caring for children was the 1984 Children’s Act.

6.    The Chairman thanked the Deputy Cabinet Member and Officers for their overview of the issues and invited Members of the Committee to ask questions.

7.    Responding to Member questions, Ms Hammond explained that 97% of UASC were males, 75% aged between 16 and 17.  Ms Hammond advised the Committee that 92 UASC were listed as missing and that the youngest missing was 14 years old.  Ms Hammond explained that children were assessed upon arrival for high risk characteristics, including those that may influence the likelihood of going missing:  Children being trafficked for the purpose of exploitation and children that were taken into care while travelling through Kent en route to meet up with established UK contacts and were therefore more likely to abscond.  Additionally, Age queried children were considered high risk; those whose claimed age had been challenged with the potential for their rights to remain and to level of support being impacted, commonly resulting in absconding to avoid removal proceedings.

8.    Mr Ireland clarified that while a small minority were trafficked with criminal purpose once inside the UK, the majority were just trafficked directly to the UK; involving the illegally facilitated travel through other nations to first present to authorities for asylum processing.

9.    A Member commented that the poor response from other authorities to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the exempt item consideration at the Committee’s meeting on 20 October 2015 were an accurate record and that they be signed by the Chairman.