Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial support they give to local authorities who are responsible for unaccompanied asylum-seekers who are minors.

The National Transfer Scheme was launched on 1 July 2016 and has been working to ensure a fairer allocation of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) across the UK. A significant number of local authorities have participated in the scheme and enabled the transfer of children away from local authorities with a disproportionate number of UASC in their care.

Since it was launched in July 2016, more than 700 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have been transferred via the NTS. This is a significant achievement which has seen many local authorities offer placements for children whose best interests are served by transferring to another local authority. The pace and number of transfers has slowed. We will continue to engage with local authorities across the country to encourage further offers and consider options in how best to share the burden.

The government provides funding to local authorities as a contribution to-wards the costs incurred in supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking chil-dren (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. 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