Council leader calls for quicker asylum decisions

The leader of Kent County Council (KCC) has called on the Home Secretary for quicker decisions to be made on asylum cases to limit the financial impact on the county.

In Linden Kemkaran's open letter to Yvette Cooper she said she was concerned to hear processing asylum claims for unaccompanied asylum-seeking (UAS) children who turned 18 was "still far too slow".

She says it means Kent "continues to shoulder the burden of fully supporting them until a determination is made".

The Home Office said it had given KCC "significant funding" to allow the authority to refurbish and obtain more accommodation for UAS children.

Kemkaran said: "You will be aware that even in ideal circumstances, government funding for 18+ adults who were previously UAS children is woefully inadequate for us to meet our duties to them as care leavers.

"But in the absence of an immigration decision, all their support needs for housing and subsistence fall on the Kent taxpayer.

"This is not a situation which I or my administration are prepared to tolerate."

She says a quicker decision on cases would "reduce the burden on the taxpayer, open access to training, work and housing, and significantly reduce the burden on the state generally".

Kemkaran also suggested that that the government could fund adults without an immigration decision, that were previously UAS children, at the same rate as under-18s, which she said was £143 per day.

"This would ensure that councils such as mine are not left out of pocket as a result of delays completely outside of our making or control," she added.

The Home Office said the safety and welfare of unaccompanied children arriving from abroad was a statutory duty and that it had to provide care placements for them, which required involvement from local authorities.

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