Channel migrants: High Court judge sets deadline for asylum children plan

Kent County Council's leader said there had been an "unfair and unsustainable burden on Kent children's services"

A judge has given Kent County Council (KCC) and the Home Office a deadline to agree a plan to deal with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC).

Both parties have until January 31 to create a workable solution to transfer lone asylum seeking children to other parts of the country.

It was also ruled that KCC had to take in all UASC or face charges of acting in a discriminatory way.

The Home Office said it was "carefully considering the judgment."

Mr Justice Chamberlain made the order as part of his judgment on a long-running case, brought by KCC, which was issued on Thursday.

KCC has long contended the Home Office-agreed National Transfer Scheme (NTS) does not work.

It reached a crisis point earlier this year when KCC declared it faced a situation where it could no longer take local children into care because it was so overwhelmed by the young asylum seekers.

The High Court recently dismissed four of KCC's five claims but crucially found in favour of its major concerns on the NTS.

Now the Home Office must come up with a plan, agreed with KCC, to make sure the NTS is enforced, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Mr Gough said the plan must prevent Kent's services becoming overwhelmed

KCC leader Roger Gough said "an efficient and timely NTS" was "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 on Kent's shores.

"It [the plan] must prevent Kent's services becoming overwhelmed and eliminate the need for the Home Office to use hotels in the future," he added.

New arrival centres for UASC are also being planned for Kent in 2024.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The safety and welfare of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children is our utmost priority and providing care placements for them is a national issue that requires participation from local authorities across the UK. "We are carefully considering the judgment and will continue to work with local authorities across the UK to support them to fulfil their statutory duties to accommodate unaccompanied children nationwide."

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