CYP Now - Kent slams government failure to make asylum transfer scheme compulsory

Kent’s director of children’s services has hit out at the government’s failure to make participation in the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) for unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) mandatory.

Kent DCS Matt Dunkley has called for a mandated National Transfer Scheme. Picture: Kent County Council

The criticism comes as the council announced it is unable to safely care for any more young migrants - the second time it has had to do this in just 10 months.

Kent has taken on responsibility for 120 unaccompanied children since the start of the year, with 50 young people arriving over the late May bank holiday alone, Kent DCS Matt Dunkley told CYP Now.

The council’s announcement came just 24-hours after the Home Office said it would not make it mandatory for councils to take part in the NTS scheme which is designed to place unaccompanied children at local authorities across the country.

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