The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Experts to check ages of refugees were rejected
Home Office did not take up the offer of assistance from specialist team
The Home Office rejected an offer of expert help to establish the ages of refugees seeking to come to the UK from the so-called Jungle camp in Calais, it has been claimed.
Specialist social workers were offered to the Home Office in August to help prepare for the arrival of refugees from the controversial French camp, which is set to be cleared this week.
But the Local Government Association (LGA) said officials did not take up the offer and only started asking for specialist help on Friday as concerns were raised by some MPs about the age of the refugees arriving in Britain.
The Sunday Telegraph said councils had offered to send social workers to Calais to carry out age checks but were ignored.
David Simmonds, chairman of the LGA’s asylum, refugee and migration taskforce told the newspaper: “We made the offer in August and the Home Office didn’t take it up at the time. They only started asking for social workers with age assessment experience on Friday.”
He added: “The offer was not taken up quickly enough. I understand that on Friday the Home Office started asking Kent for social workers with experience in age assessment.
“But we offered our help three months ago. I am aware they were trying to talk to people on Friday to get help after all.”
A Home Office source insisted the support had not been needed when it was offered in August.
Some of the first wave of arrivals this week provoked speculation over their ages amid suggestions some appeared to look much older than teenagers and Tory MP David Davies suggested using dental checks to establish ages.
Screens have since been used to keep the refugees hidden from public view after arriving at a Home Office building in Croydon, south London, from the muddy, rat-infested slum in France.
Dozens of young migrants have arrived in the UK in recent days, including the first group of vulnerable unaccompanied children without links to Britain under the landmark Dubs amendment.