Kent launches legal action over number of unaccompanied child migrants

The council said that reforms to national systems promised by the Home Office and Department for Education last year have not materialised and it has now taken the first steps in legal proceedings to "implement a long-term solution that will prevent this crisis from occurring again".

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The proposed Judicial Review asks the Home Secretary to use her existing powers to direct local authorities other than Kent to receive their fair share of UASC.

It refers to the “refusal and/or continuing failure by the Home Secretary to exercise her powers to prepare a mandatory scheme to transfer some of the functions of KCC in respect of its responsibility to UASC’s to other local authorities in England, and to direct other local authorities in England to comply with that scheme.”

"The director of children’s services has advised the leader that the current pace of arrivals and strain on care services is likely to mean he will no longer be able to safely accept any further new UASC arrivals in Kent before the end of this week," a statement by the council said.

"Border Force will then be asked to place new arrivals directly into other local authorities around the country from the port, as they did for three months last year."

Roger Gough, leader of Kent County Council, said: “I am deeply saddened that we are now seeing a repeat of the same crisis of nine months ago.

“While there have been a number of welcome measures from government – to the benefit of the Kent council taxpayer – we have not seen what is most needed: a robust National Transfer Scheme that prevents port authorities such as Kent coming under unmanageable pressure. Over this last year we have argued consistently and repeatedly that this must be done through a mandatory system.

“The Home Office consulted on changes to the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) in August and September last year and have yet to publish any new proposals or a response to the consultation. The scheme remains voluntary with insufficient incentive for other UK local authorities to transfer UASC from Kent.

“Kent residents deserve a resolution to this issue. We still do not have one. The wholly disproportionate strain on Kent’s children’s services continues to be overlooked."

It was in August last year that Kent County Council first warned that it “could not safely accept” UASC amid a surge in new arrivals, calling on the Home Office to “fairly distribute the children to other local authorities”.

The government responded the following month with proposals mandating the National Transfer Scheme (NTS), which was introduced on a voluntary basis in 2016 relieve the pressure on so-called "gateway authorities", such as Kent County Council and Hillingdon Council, which were having to care for increasing numbers of UASC.

Under the scheme, each council that opts in is expected to take on UASC up to a maximum level of 0.07 per cent of its overall child population. However, in 2018 it emerged that many councils had not signed up to the scheme due to existing financial pressures and concerns that central government was not providing enough funding to cover the true cost of caring for UASCs.

Kent County Council said that between 1 January and 1 June this year 242 UASC have arrived on Kent shores and been passed to Kent children’s services. Of these, only 52 have been transferred to other local authorities under the voluntary transfer scheme.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office spokesman said: “Those who attempt to cheat the system place an unjust burden on the taxpayer and prevent genuine asylum seekers from getting support. This is why the government is bringing forward the New Plan for Immigration which will allow us to welcome those most in need through safe and legal routes, while preventing abuse of the system.

“We recognise the longstanding role that Kent County Council has played in supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and are extremely grateful for their contribution. We continue to encourage more areas to join the National Transfer Scheme and do their part.

“We have already consulted on how to improve the scheme to make it fairer - the outcome of which will be published very shortly.”