Councils flout asylum data laws

As many as half of all local authorities are at risk of breaching data protection laws by passing on information about unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to immigration officials.

A report by campaign group Action on Rights for Children (Arch) has found that children's social services are regularly passing on information from age assessments to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) over and above what they are required to reveal.

Arch claims this breaks data protection rules and means children face the prospect of deportation if even slight inconsistencies are found between age assessment interviews and initial immigration interviews.

The report details the case of a 17-year-old girl who claimed in her initial interview that she left her country to avoid a forced marriage. After failing to mention this in her age assessment, the issue was picked up by the UKBA, which said the inconsistency damaged her credibility.

Terry Dowty, director of Arch, said: "The UKBA is using data it almost certainly shouldn't have to decide asylum cases. Everyone is entitled to data protection rights, including unaccompanied asylum seekers."

The stated purpose of supplying age-assessment data to the UKBA is to establish age, but Arch claims full disclosure of the process is likely to include data that is "irrelevant and excessive". A survey of 120 local authorities by Arch found that 54 councils provide UKBA with full age assessments, 13 provide full assessments if requested, seven say they obtain the consent of the child or their legal representative and two seek legal advice.

Only 15 say they do not provide the full assessment, with the remaining 29 deciding on a case-by-case basis.

"Often the children don't realise the implications of not saying something in their reception interview that they later divulge in a more relaxed conversation with a social worker," said Dowty. "They can then find that it is being used against them."

Home Office figures show there were 10,355 age-disputed cases where assessment procedures were carried out between 2004 and 2008.

A UKBA spokesman said the agency complied with the Data Protection Act.