Agenda item

Purpose of the report: Surrey currently looks after the third highest number of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) of any local authority in England. This paper seeks to outline the current position in relation to Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children & Care Leavers (UASCL) , whilst recognising the increasing financial considerations attendant upon having such a large group of asylum seekers in the care of the county.

Declarations of Interest:

None

Witnesses:

Mark Jowett, Area Head of Children's Services
Sam Bushby, Assistant Director of Children’s Services
Clare Curran, Cabinet Member for Children
Mary Lewis, Cabinet member for Education

Key points raised in the discussion:

1.    Officers stressed the importance of the issue facing the authority regarding Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC), highlighting the significant funding pressures put on the service. Officers noted that there was evidence of decreasing overall numbers of children projected in 2018/19 but that cases of UASC care leavers were increasing as a result of historic cases. It was noted that, resultant to this, that there was a £4.5million deficit which was funded by the service.

2.    Officers and the Cabinet Member for Children highlighted that there had been significant lobbying efforts with comparable authorities in the South East to resolve the funding inequality with central government. It was also noted that there was a Home Office review of funding due in February 2018 which would further clarify the funding position.

3.    Officers advised that the service was providing a good quality service for UASC with the resources available. However, officers explained that they were working to make better use of funding available, stating that the service was looking to provide accommodation in county wherever possible to produce best outcomes and value for money.

4.    Members questioned whether officers could further promote initiatives, such as the host families, further using social media. Officers noted that this would be something that they could work with and involve Members in to promote.

5.    Members questioned funding arrangements for statistical neighbours and whether they were in a similar situation. Officers noted that the two authorities with greater numbers of UASC, Kent and Croydon, had received a historic special arrangement regarding funding, which was not granted to Surrey. Officers did note that they were not above their designated quota for UASC in county and that a similar special arrangement based on this would be unlikely.

6.    Members noted that the service could work to control spending on its UASC and ensure that it gets best value for money, highlighting the high cost of spend on each child against national disposable income, and query whether this was an appropriate use.

7.    Members questioned the national profiles of identified UASC and whether there was a potential for missing key groups at risk. Officers and the Cabinet Member for Children stressed that they benchmark with other local authorities and with figures of the National Refugee Council to assure themselves that they were identifying the right groups. It was agreed that the service would note any anomalies based on this data.

8.    It was noted that some groups that have been identified in the list of UASC were at significantly higher risk of exploitation and that the service was working to alleviate this.

Recommendations:

1.    The Committee recommends that the Cabinet Member for Children continue to work to lobby central Government for additional funding for UASC to address the identified funding deficit.