Councils mandated to accept asylum seeking minors: the government acts

Late on Monday, the Home Office confirmed that the government is moving to mandate councils across the country to accept Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) into their care under the National Transfer Scheme (NTS). This was confirmed in a letter sent yesterday morning from Home Office Minister Kevin Foster and Children’s Minister Will Quince.

This is a very welcome development, and one which we at KCC have long argued for. The voluntary NTS set up in the summer has delivered large transfers (I believe around 600) of UASC young people to other local authorities. Nonetheless, not all authorities have taken part and recent rounds of the rota established through the new NTS have proved increasingly difficult to operate. With very large numbers of arrivals, and the consequent need for government to rely on unsustainable hotel accommodation for UASC, the case for mandation has become irresistible.

No authority with more UASC in its care than the 0.07% of the children and young people population benchmark established under the 2016 Immigration Act will be mandated to take additional UASC. This is of course the case for Kent, though we continue not only to take UASC young people into our care when we have capacity but also operate a Safe Care and Reception Service for UASC who will go on to other local authorities for their permanent placement. The mandation arrangements are said by ministers to be temporary and until the current pressures are addressed; it remains to be seen how this will work in practice, and in any case this remains a very positive decision. 

I have given a number of interviews since the announcement, including on BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight on Monday evening (the report starts some 10 minutes into the broadcast).

Tonight, however, all thoughts related to channel crossings are dominated by the horrific news of the drowning of some 31 people near Calais. For this horror, there are no words.

Lombard Street parking: markers to be installed from Monday

Works are about to get under way in the first stage of efforts to address the parking problems in Lombard Street, Horton Kirby, near the former Oakview Stud Farm.

The Parish Council and KCC (represented by Kent Highways officers and me as local Member) have sought to address the problem and have discussed various ways of providing some improvements to improve the traffic flows and protect the largest area of highway verge. These measures involve the installation of black and white marker posts in the verge, 450mm back from the edge of the road from Reynolds Place Cottages for a distance of 70m, to prevent verge parking. 

The installation of the markers will start on this coming Monday, 22 November. 

Longer-term plans are for the provision of several sections of double yellow lines on the eastern side of the road, alongside the footway from opposite Reynolds Farm Cottages to the junction with Rays Hill. These sections of double yellow lines would only be short and would be located so that they can be used to allow vehicles to pass each other. Such a scheme will, however, Require full public consultation and the preparation of traffic regulation orders, which must be advertised. This process may take some six to nine months to be completed.

For the still longer term, discussions (involving Sevenoaks District Council’s planning department) are under way as to possible provision of parking in the area. In the meantime, however, these more immediate measures are under way.