Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Taxpayers in Kent face £4.6m bill for refugee children
Taxpayers in Kent may have to cover a £4.6m shortfall for child asylum seekers coming into the county.
Despite the latest figures showing that fewer child asylum seekers are moving into Kent, funding from Westminster does not cover the full cost of housing, schooling and other services for them.
The shortfall was revealed by Cllr Roger Gough, Kent County Council’s Cabinet member for children’s services, at a meeting earlier this month.
He said Kent’s bill is one of the largest in the country as other local authorities are unwilling or reluctant to take these children.
Cllr Gough said: “Between what we spend in total compared with what the government gives us, the gap is £4.6m, estimated for this financial year.
“The national dispersal system got off to a good start. There’s been signs that it’s slowing but I think that some of the problems around that actually relate to the structural issues. Some of the local authorities are unwilling or reluctant to take unaccompanied asylum children because they look at the funding gap.”
Opposition leader Cllr Rob Bird said that the scheme is voluntary and there is no legal requirement for other authorities to take these children. He said: “Kent County Council has no choice in the matter. These are children who cannot be expected to fend for themselves, particularly in a foreign country. If the proper care support were not put in place, then they would be put at risk of exploitation and harm.”
KCC is also obliged to provide support for these young people until they are 25, although government funding stops at 18.
A Home Office spokesman thanked KCC for its support and said Kent continued to look after a disproportionate number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children. The spokesman said: “The National Transfer Scheme has transferred 555 children away from local authorities like Kent since it began in July 2016. However more needs to be done and we want more local authorities to step up and participate.
“In July 2016 we increased funding provided to local authorities by 20% for unaccompanied asylum seeking children under 16, and by 28% for unaccompanied asylum seeking children aged 16 or 17. We also increased the funding we provide to former unaccompanied asylum seeking children who go on to attract leaving care support by 33%.”
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid announced extra funding on December 19 to boost the ability of councils to support unaccompanied asylum seeking children, bringing the total available funds to £19m in 2017/2018.