Directors warn new cash for asylum seeker children is not enough

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.