Limit set on council child refugee numbers

Under a new national transfer scheme being introduced from 1 July, councils will be required to take on responsibility for child refugees discovered in their area until the numbers reach a level representing 0.07 per cent of the overall under-18 population in the area.

The ratio, which has been agreed for 2016/17 but will be subject to review on an annual basis, means that a council that has 100,000 children living within its boundaries will be expected to take on responsibility for up to 70 unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

Once the so-called "ceiling" of 0.07 per cent is reached, any further child refugees coming to the attention of the local authority would be expected to be transferred to a local authority within that region via the national transfer scheme.

If the region exceeds the ceiling of 0.07 per cent then the child would be expected to be transferred out of the region.

"The long-term objective of the transfer scheme is to achieve a fairer distribution of unaccompanied children through a scheme which is equitable and transparent, across all local authorities and all regions," states a document put together jointly by the Department for Education and Home Office on how the national transfer scheme will work.

Home Office statistics published earlier this year show that in 2015, a total of 3,043 unaccompanied children applied for asylum in the UK, compared with 1,945 in 2014 - a rise of 56.5 per cent.

The government first said it was considering forcing local authorities to take on unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in December, in order to ease pressure on Kent County Council.

As a result of the refugee crisis, there are currently around 1,000 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Kent County Council's care.