Decision details

Cabinet considered the report and:

1.    Agreed that Peterborough City Council play a full part in national arrangements under the Government’s National Transfer Scheme that is intended to ensure that unaccompanied asylum seeking children and young people account for no more than 0.07% of the child population of any one local authority; and

2.    Agreed that Peterborough City Council also play a full part in supporting arrangements across the eastern region to support the transfer of unaccompanied minors between regional authorities by agreement and where transfer would be in the interests of the child or young person concerned.

Participating in the National Transfer Scheme will ensure that Peterborough continues to fully play our part in contributing to the support needs of vulnerable unaccompanied minors and former minors and any vulnerable children identified under the provisions of the Immigration Act 2016.

Importantly, however, this contribution will be made in a planned and predictable way that ensures that this support is provided within a framework that is equitable across the country.

Participating in the regional scheme agreed by Directors of Children’s Services will enable us to help children and young people we have placed outside of the City to be better supported in the longer term by, for example, supporting case responsibility to transfer to the local authority within which they are placed, by agreement.

            The following options were considered and rejected:

            Option 1 – Not to participate in either the National Transfer Scheme or regional arrangements. This option was rejected because:

a)    Non-participation in the National Transfer Scheme would result in the Council continuing to be required to meet the needs of unaccompanied minors being apprehended within Peterborough as at present. Current arrangements lead to an unpredictable and variable resource pressure as numbers arriving fluctuate throughout the year;

b)    Non-participation in the National Transfer Scheme would risk the Council being perceived as being unwilling to accept our fair share of responsibility for supporting unaccompanied minors, although clearly not actually the case given our history;

c)    Non-engagement in the regional scheme would mean that we may not be able to secure the agreement of other regional local authorities to accept case and financial responsibility for children and young people we have placed outside of Peterborough, affecting the ability of those young people to access long term and consistent support in an area that has become familiar to them.

None.

None.