Asylum transfer scheme changes ‘will do nothing’ to support children, warns ADCS
Fiona Simpson
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
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 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.
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Under new rules, the Home Office has increased this threshold to 0.1 per cent.
Councils will also now have five working days rather than 10 to transfer an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child from hotel accommodation to their care.
However, ADCS president Steve Crocker said that these changes “do nothing to address the many pressing and longstanding pressures in the system that we continue to raise with government. For example, the inadequacy of the funding arrangements for care leavers and finding appropriate homes for children when they arrive here”.
“This must be seen in the context of other pressures facing local authorities including an increase in the general care population as well as the other schemes in place to welcome refugees and unaccompanied children,” he added.
As part of its announcement, the Home Office has also introduced a payment to local authorities of £2,000 per child per month for the first three months if they move a child from a hotel to a placement within five working days.
Immigration minister Kevin Foster said: “The government cannot deal with the impact of the rise in dangerous and illegal small boat crossings alone which is why I welcome the support from councils to help us reduce the cost of hotels and quickly move unaccompanied asylum-seeking children so they receive the care they need.
“Any council which moves a child from a hotel to their care under the new scheme will receive support funding of £6,000 per child for the first three months to give them the best possible start.”
