Every summer has its own story

There’s a sign by the counter that says, ‘every summer has its own story’. That may be true, but every summer also now has one story, as the weather gets warmer and more small boats arrive, about crisis support for asylum-seekers including unaccompanied children.

The recent High Court judgment that the practice of using hotels to accommodate unaccompanied asylum-seeking (UAS) children is unlawful surely necessitates a change of narrative, one driven by urgency and the right level of resourcing so that we can, as corporate parents, fulfil our duties.

We all take our duty to provide support to these vulnerable children and young people extremely seriously and need to provide Kent with assistance in this respect; but there also needs to be recognition that our collective capacity to do so is limited by a lack of adequate funding and a national shortage of placements.

ADCS has put forward strong suggestions to government to help address challenges faced by the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) and the associated use of hotel accommodation. A priority focus has got to be on delaying implementation of the regulation and inspection of supported accommodation until the immediate pressures created by the judgement are resolved and the unintended consequences are better understood and mitigated. Other options should also be considered such as new approaches to age assessment and flexibility on fostering.

Critically, the new financial burdens on local authorities arising from the NTS need to be fully understood and resourced on a more sustainable basis. Current Home Office funding does not touch the sides of placement costs in the face of provider inflation and has never met the costs of social work time and the wrap-around support required. This means that many councils, including my own, face big budget deficits for the UAS children in our care and care leavers. The narrative needs to shift towards a more sustainable, long-term system, one that recognises the pressure this puts on local authority children’s services and is properly resourced to meet the needs of this vulnerable group of children.

Summer is traditionally a time for stories of recharge and optimism, but another narrative where my propensity for optimism is currently being challenged is SEND. I won’t rehearse my concerns about the new SEND area inspections but will say that the timing is, at best, tricky given the government’s own verdict that the system is failing whilst costs are increasing, and that we’re not yet off the blocks in a period of pathfinding and piloting an important, more inclusive approach. It is vital there is clearer join up and read across the SEND and AP improvement plan and the significant system-wide barriers to mainstream inclusion that includes workforce and capacity, curriculum, inspection and the accountability frameworks, and yes, funding including high needs allocations and the notional schools’ budget. That is the story I hope to hear, and be part of, next summer.

Jo Fisher is Eastern region representative for the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) and director of children’s services at Hertfordshire County Council. This blog was first published on the ADCS website.