Kent council to receive £9.8m for asylum children

Most lone asylum seeking children arrive by small boat

A Kent council will receive new funding to accommodate more lone asylum seeking children, the High Court has heard.

Home Office lawyers said on Friday "an immediate cash injection" of £9.75m would help Kent County Council (KCC) to increase capacity.

It comes as an anti-trafficking charity criticised the continued use of hotels to house children.

KCC said it continued to take "all possible steps" to accommodate all children.

Every Child Protected Against Trafficking (ECPAT) told the hearing the proportion of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) housed in Kent hotels was "growing" despite the practice being ruled unlawful in July.

Judge Mr Justice Chamberlain said KCC and government ministers should agree a plan to ensure the local authority was meeting its obligations.

Lawyer Deok Joo Rhee KC said the Home Office was "reasonably confident" a new funding arrangement with Kent County Council could be put in place by the end of October and it had "not underestimated" the challenges the local authority faced.

She said the cash would help the council increase capacity, with the Government committed to bringing about "improvements to the speed of transfers" of children between areas which were a "necessary and important part of the solution".

• Local 'care crisis' after migrant children ruling

• Housing child asylum seekers in hotels ruled unlawful

• Asylum children in hotels ‘unacceptable’ - Ofsted

Lawyers for ECPAT said one set of figures showed that since 27 July, KCC had not accommodated 185 lone children, of which 138 are aged under 16 and eight are 13.

It added that two children had gone missing since the judge's first ruling in July.

KCC lawyers said "effective measures" had increased the council's capacity, with some 777 lone children in its care as of 8 September - up from 466 at the last hearing on 27 July.

It also said not being able to take all children into its care was down to "systemic problems" that required government help.

Care crisis

Most children seeking asylum in the UK arrive by small boats in Kent, where the council has a legal duty to look after them.

Last month the authority warned of a local care crisis saying it was so overwhelmed by the numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children that it could not cope with the demand.

Mr Southey added, as of 6 September, the council had taken into its care almost 80% of unaccompanied youngsters arriving in Kent since 27 July.

He said children the council had not being able to accommodate included 15 lone youngsters, 12 over the age of 16, who require isolation due to suspected diphtheria.

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