Asylum: Children in Care

(asked on 2nd March 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, who has parental responsibility for unaccompanied and asylum-seeking children who are in care on a voluntary agreement under section 20 of the Children’s Act 1989.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 5th March 2020

Under s20 of the Children Act 1989 the local authority has a statutory responsibility to accommodate unaccompanied, asylum seeking children (UASC). Where the child is accommodated for more than 24 hours they become a ‘looked after’ child and the local authority where the child presents has a statutory duty to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare in the same way as any other looked after child.

Ofsted, as part of its children’s services inspection framework, monitor and quality assess local authority processes in relation to all looked after children and care leavers. This will include an assessment of pathway planning.

The statutory guidance ‘Care of unaccompanied migrant children and child victims of modern slavery’ and ‘Children Act 1989: planning transition to adulthood for care leavers’ set out how local authorities should appropriately pathway plan in a way that meets the needs of unaccompanied care leavers. This guidance is available at the following links: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/656429/UASC_Statutory_Guidance_2017.pdf and https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/397649/CA1989_Transitions_guidance.pdf.

The statutory guidance ‘Care of unaccompanied migrant children and child victims of modern slavery’ also sets out how local authorities should appropriately care plan for UASC in accordance with the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010. The regulations apply to all looked after children, regardless of their immigration status, nationality or documentation.

The statutory guidance makes clear that social workers’ knowledge of the asylum process should include an understanding of the child’s asylum process, the purpose of the asylum case review and the different possible outcomes of a child’s asylum claim and how that impacts on pathway planning. Social workers should also have a broad understanding of the immigration system. In addition, the department is developing bespoke materials for social workers to support their understanding of the asylum process. These materials are currently being tested by a sample of local authorities prior to wider dissemination across England. We have also commissioned the No Recourse to Public Fund Network to produce guidance on pathway planning for unaccompanied adolescents who are care leavers.

As part of the care planning process, local authorities must carry out a health assessment of all their looked after children. The Regulations and Statutory Guidance ‘Promoting the Health and Wellbeing of Looked-After Children’ makes clear that an assessment should include the child’s emotional and mental health needs and this must be reviewed regularly. Statutory guidance also makes clear that for unaccompanied children, the health assessment should ascertain any physical, psychological or emotional impact of experiences as an unaccompanied child or child victim of modern slavery. Any past trauma or experiences should be noted, along with any consequential need for psychological or mental health support to help the child deal with them. Mental health provision is provided at a local level.

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