𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

A UK council has lashed out at the Government, suggesting that the amount of money it has to spend looking after migrant children is “unfair”. The rating of Kent County Council’s quaility of care was decreased by Ofsted, as they now required improvement, inspectors say. This is after previously having been rated as outstanding.

Reform UK’s leader of the authority, Linden Kemkaran, blamed the amount of small boat arrivals, claiming they are placing “execptional demands” on the system. Cllr Kemkaran said the council was made responsible for 12,000 children seeking asylum between 2015 to 2025, three times the amount seen during the previous 10 years.

It is thought that 3,000 unaccompanied young people arrived on small boats and sought asylum in 2025. The local authority of the area in which they are first identified is known as their “corporate parent” and has a legal responsibility to care for them.

Data revealed on yesterday that Kent spent almost twice the amount of money on care as Hampshire, which ranked second, The Times reported.

Kent spent £41.6million last year.

Cllr Kemkaran said: “Kent is still caring for legacy, unaccompanied asylum seeking young people who arrived here on our shores up to 10 years ago, when the National Transfer Scheme was broken and ineffective.”

She added: “Many of these young people remain in our care until the age of 25 due to delays in asylum decisions and the absence of any family or community networks.”

Kent County Council’s director of children’s services, Sarah Hammond, said funding received from the Government for care leavers is significantly less of £270 a week, compared to £1,100 a week for those under 18.

But deputy leader of the opposition Richard Streatfeild said improvements could be made using council funds and that it is the Reform administration that is “failing” in its outcomes for care leavers.

“This is a smokescreen for failure to be a good corporate parent by Reform,” the Liberal Democrat said.

“We’ve known this problem is going to arrive because it arrived, as was demonstrated very aptly by the leader, over 10 years ago, and has been working its way slowly through this, through the system, and now we are faced with a particular bulge.

“But it’s not like we didn’t know this was happening. So are we adequately funding it? No, we’re not.”