Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what financial support the Government has allocated to Staffordshire County Council in support of caring for unaccompanied (a) adult and (b) children asylum seekers in each of the last five years.

The government provides funding to local authorities as a contribution to-wards the costs incurred in supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) and young care leavers who were UASC.

For unaccompanied children arriving from 1 July 2016, local authorities can claim £114 per day for those children aged under 16 and £91 per day for those children aged 16 or 17. The overall value of each claim is dependent on the number of agreed days that children are supported by the local authority. More information on the funding available to local authorities supporting UASC and former UASC care leavers can be found in the funding instructions published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unaccompanied-asylum-seeking-children-uasc-grant-instructions

The Home Office directly provides adult asylum seekers and their dependants who would otherwise be destitute with free furnished accommodation (rent and utility free) and a weekly cash allowance to cover their other essential living needs.