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Former children’s minister calls for asylum transfer scheme to be replaced

1 min read Social Care
The government must completely revamp its local authority dispersal scheme for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and “properly” fund councils to deliver necessary support, former children’s minister Tim Loughton has said.
Tim Loughton says the current transfer scheme is not adequately funded. Picture: UK Parliament
Tim Loughton says the current transfer scheme is not adequately funded. Picture: UK Parliament

The National Transfer Scheme (NTS), which is designed to fairly disperse unaccompanied children across all local authorities, was made compulsory in 2021.

Speaking to CYP Now, Loughton said the scheme needs to be scrapped and rebuilt to properly relieve pressure on councils such as Kent and Croydon which are common entry points for migrants.

“We've got to have a properly functioning sustainable dispersal system so everybody is funded to take on their fair share of migrants coming here,” he said, noting that government should give councils ring-fenced funding to support placements of unaccompanied children.

“Local authorities are best placed to identify potential accommodation, build new accommodation or adapt existing accommodation. The problem has been that national government is not paying a fair amount to local authorities to provide the full gamut of accommodation and support services to go with it.

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