CYP Now - Asylum transfer scheme changes ‘will do nothing’ to support children, warns ADCS

Government changes to its dispersal scheme for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children “will do nothing” to address challenges including inadequate funding for care leavers and a lack of placements, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) has said.

The scheme intends to take pressure off local authorities with high levels of unaccompanied children. Picture: Adobe Stock

The Home Office has announced changes to the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) - which aims to fairly distribute unaccompanied migrant children across all local authorities – including increasing the number of placements a council must create based on their overall child population.

Under the scheme, which was made compulsory in February, councils were initially asked to create enough placements for unaccompanied migrant children equal to 0.07 per cent of their overall child population before being able to apply for young people to be transferred elsewhere.

Under new rules, the Home Office has increased this threshold to 0.1 per cent.

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