Kent outlines “urgent” need for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to be transferred to other UK local authorities

Kent County Council has warned it is now “extremely close” to its current capacity for caring for unaccompanied asylum-seeking (UAS) children, and has highlighted an “urgent” need for children to be transferred to other UK local authorities.

At a High Court hearing last month (14 March), Hugh Southey KC, representing the council, argued in written statements that “Kent’s safe placement capacity may be exceeded as soon as this month”.

He added: “Kent County Council cannot magic up external placements that do not exist.”

The council had previously eased pressure on its care services through a deal with the Home Office that capped the number of UAS children the council would take - dubbed ‘the Kent Protocol’.

But in a High Court ruling on 27 July 2023, Mr Justice Chamberlain found the practice to be unlawful. The judge also ruled that Kent's decision to stop taking UAS children breached the Children Act 1989.

The High Court further ruled that the Home Office’s policy of placing UAS children in hotels was unlawful when it became “systematic and routine”.

The Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has warned that “insufficient” long-term solutions have been found to accommodate unaccompanied minors.

She said last month: “Unaccompanied children like those arriving in Kent are the responsibility of the local authority where they arrived. Once they have been processed by the Home Office, they should immediately be taken into the care of the relevant local authority, and where appropriate swiftly be transferred to the long-term care of local authorities across the country through the government’s National Transfer Scheme.

“The local authority must provide an appropriate care placement, such as a children’s home or foster care. The Department for Education has responsibility for children’s social care, and – with the regulatory body Ofsted – making sure each local council is meeting its statutory duties towards these children. It is essential they work hand in glove with the Home Office, which is responsible for asylum claims and for ‘processing’ the individuals arriving across the Channel.”

She added: “We need urgent action from all those in government to make sure that the children being processed in Dover can be moved to suitable homes or health settings quickly, and that hotels are never brought back into use.”

According to forecasts provided to the High Court, between March and December 2024 up to 3,541 unaccompanied children could arrive on small boats, while Kent County Council only has places for 1,631 of them.

Shu Shin Luh, representing ECPAT UK, told the court that it was a “groundhog day” situation continuing to leave vulnerable children in limbo, according to The Guardian.

Roger Gough, Leader of Kent County Council, said: “We are now extremely close to our current capacity for caring for UAS Children and urgently need more to be transferred to other UK local authorities immediately.

“For many years, we have asserted the need for an efficient and timely National Transfer Scheme (NTS). It is the only viable solution to the unfair and unsustainable burden on Kent Children’s Services and residents from increasing arrivals of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UAS Children) on Kent’s shores."

Cllr Gough added: “Whilst Kent now has funding in place that it desperately needed to build increased capacity, the Court recognised that this could not be the sole answer to resolving the dire situation faced by these vulnerable Children. Importantly, Mr Justice Chamberlain instructed the Home Office to urgently review the NTS and submit an appropriate, effective plan to facilitate timely transfers of UAS Children out of Kent and equitably into the care of other UK local authorities. It must include a comprehensive emergency response plan to prevent Kent’s services becoming overwhelmed and eliminate the need for the Home Office to use hotels in the future. Further, the Home Office have a range of new powers available to them to immediately solve this issue but have so far without explanation refused to make use of them.

“We now await the judgment from the last hearing on 14 March.”

Lottie Winson