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| 01/05/08
Relief For 'Asylum' Councils - £30m to be found Ministers have agreed to negotiate with the top ten local authorities who are looking after 3,500 unaccompanied asylum seeking children in the UK and have outstanding bills of more than £30million, to find a solution to the funding crisis in the next few weeks. The move follows a top level meeting with ministers and a lobby at the House of Lords. The Local Government Association, London Councils and Paul Carter the Leader of one of the most significantly affected authorities - Kent - met with Home Office minister Liam Byrne and Children, Schools and Families Minister Kevin Brennan on Tuesday. They were representing councils across the country who are looking after the majority of unaccompanied asylum seeking children who arrive in the UK with no-one to care for them. By law the councils must provide care and support to the children but because government grants to provide these services fall short councils are out of pocket by millions of pounds. On Wednesday ten local authorities took their case to the House of Lords where they briefed an audience of MPs, Peers, children and refugee charities and local authority members and officers. Representatives from UNICEF, the Refugee Council, Save The Children and the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture and Rob Williams, the Chief Executive of 11 Million (the office of the Children's Commissioner for England), all supported the call for councils to have 100% of their costs reimbursed. They want to ensure asylum seeking children continue to have access to quality levels of care and local authority costs are met in full by National Government. The councils; Birmingham, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kent, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxfordshire, Solihull and West Sussex have spent more than £100million in just the last two years caring for young asylum seekers who arrive in the country with no-one to care for them. More than £30million has yet to be refunded by the government, leaving some authorities no choice but to increase council tax or cut services. Leader of Kent County Council Paul Carter said: “I was very pleased with the meeting with ministers on Tuesday. They have agreed to work with the affected local authorities to find a positive solution to the funding crisis within a matter of weeks. “The spirit of the funding agreement struck some six years ago was that the financial burden of looking after unaccompanied asylum seeking children should fall on National Government and not the council tax payers of receiving authorities. "We desperately need a long-term solution to this national issue, so that we do not have the same situation year on year where the costs of supporting the children fall to taxpayers living in the most affected areas. "And our discussions with government must include reaching an agreement over the historical debt - some of which is outstanding from the Home Office - but mostly lies with the Department for Children, Families and Schools, dating back some three years. "We have the support of the UK's deputy children's commissioner and a number of national charities who joined us at the House of Lords. They recognise that the shortfall in funding from government makes it continually more difficult to provide appropriate care for these vulnerable children and can create resentment in our communities." Assistant programme director for Save the Children’s protection team Terry Smith said: "Many separated asylum seeking children arrive in this country alone and deeply traumatised and the care and protection they receive from Local Authorities is key to their survival. They are children first and foremost and their welfare can no longer be compromised by funding constraints." The Chairman of the LGA Task Group on Asylum and Refugees Cllr Roger Lawrence, who was at the meeting with ministers on Tuesday, said: "The LGA has long had a policy that councils providing services to asylum seekers should be refunded all reasonably incurred costs. It is very good news that the government is starting to listen to us and has made a commitment to resolve the problem quickly."
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