A £10 million fund to help councils fulfil their duties towards unaccompanied children asylum seekers until the age of 24 will not be enough, social services directors have warned, writes Sally Gillen.
Peter Gilroy, chairperson of the Association of Directors of Social Services task force on asylum seekers, said the cash was a “good start and the first time government has acknowledged that councils with high numbers of asylum seekers have serious financial issues”.
But he said the fund, which is part of the new £100 million safeguarding children grant, would “not be enough”, and Hillingdon’s social services director Hugh Dunnachie added it was “woefully inadequate”.
Earlier this year, the high court ruled against Hillingdon, which receives children arriving at Heathrow, and all councils had a duty to give unaccompanied minors the same support as care leavers.
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