Agenda item

Report to follow.

Ben Watts (General Counsel) and Amanda Beer (Chief Executive) were in attendance for this this item.

1.    The Leader introduced the report which provided an update on the current operational and legal position regarding the arrival of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in Kent. Members were reminded that following a number of hearings over the past year, the final judgment in the High Court proceedings that was brought against the Government by Kent County Council (KCC) was handed down on 5^th June 2024. The judgment concluded the position that KCC had reported through a number of Section 5 reports, regarding its inability to meet its statutory duty regarding UASC and the issue concerning the inequitable National Transfer System (NTS) which placed a disproportionate burden on Kent. The judgment was clear that the Council and the Home Office had to do everything possible to get the Council back to a position of lawfulness. Following discussions and funding from the Home Office for this explicit purpose, the Council had developed additional capacity at pace. However, the challenge remained in ensuring KCC had sufficient capacity to meet the high number of arrivals and work was ongoing to accommodate this. Following the General Election and the appointment of Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP as the new Home Secretary, the Leader confirmed that he would be writing to her, setting out KCCs current position and would seek to engage with Government to find solutions for a national problem which would be positive and long-lasting. The Leader commended the Children’s Services team, along with infrastructure, legal and finance for the work they had done in addressing the challenges.

2.    Mrs Chandler (Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services) addressed the significant amount of work that had been undertaken across the Council, specifically in relation to ‘trigger point 4’ under the Early Warning System (EWS) whereby on a number of occasions KCC and central Government narrowly averted crisis and ensured placements were identified within timeframe to accommodate UASC arrivals. The level of participation from other Local Authorities in the NTS had not been maintained, which emphasised the Council’s contention that the NTS was not operating in an equitable manner to ensure children were evenly distributed across the country. The level of UASC arrivals remained high and tensions would persist over the summer period. Furthermore, Mrs Chandler noted that that the cohort of KCC’s UASC Care Leavers was greater compared to other Local Authorities, however, funding from Government continued to remain inadequate  in comparison to funding received for those under 18. Again, this was a national issue which KCC had to effectively manage with very limited resources.

3.    Mr Watts (General Counsel) advised that all measures would be taken to mitigate requirement for further litigation. He noted that the litigation did however ensure a package of funding and increased investment to support the steps required by the Court and thus avoided funding from Kent taxpayers. Mr Watts noted the opportunity that was presented to the Council to share and reflect on its learning from the Judicial Review; however, the challenge remained for the Council in its capacity to meet its statutory duty and would continue to advocate to Government the need for sustainable changes.

4.    Further to comments and questions from Members it was noted:

• That despite the Home Secretary retaining the power to accommodate UAS children in hotels under emergency situations, it was unpopular and damaged both local cohesion and the tourism sector.

• Members noted that whilst KCC may have had appropriate funding and capacity to accommodate UAS children, there may not have been the capacity in terms of specialist resource to manage the large numbers of arrivals.

5.    RESOLVED that Cabinet note the report.