"None of this can wait" I concluded Monday's post on the arrival in Kent of increasing numbers of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC). The rest of the week has seen further arrivals (some 16 since Monday) and continuing media interest, including this Daily Mail report.
The pressures have now reached a critical point. My previous post set out the impact of Covid-19 and its requirements for social distancing on our reception centres. We have now reached a point at which we are having to reverse our previous stance and put young people back into double rooms, contrary to public health best practice. Further arrivals will only compromise further and unacceptably our ability to provide the safe and effective service that we are required to.
I was able to talk about these issues on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning (about 53 minutes in on this playback, which is available for 29 days) and again in a more extended interview on Radio Kent (1 hour and 47 minutes in, available here also for 29 days).
At the same time, I wrote to the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, setting out Kent's situation and urging as the most immediate priority a reactivation of the National Transfer Scheme (NTS), created in the aftermath of the 2015 migration crisis to ensure a fair and workable distribution of young asylum seekers across local authorities. The scheme fell into desuetude from 2018 onwards, chiefly because of the negative cost implications to local authorities of taking UASC, and in particular Care Leavers from a UASC background. Prior to recent events, the Home Office had worked up both a revised NTS and proposals for funding reform for supporting Care Leavers. These must now be implemented as a matter of urgency.
You can find my letter to the Home Secretary in a KCC media release here.
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