I ask for you to release information as to the number of unaccompanied refugee minors that could be taken in by this local council for the period May 2017 until December 2017. How many unaccompanied minors could this council afford to provide care for, either based on past records, or on your verifiable assessment.
We are committed to offering care to unaccompanied asylum seeking children, and are working within the calculation for the national transfer scheme of 0.07% of our total child population – as per the current arrangement, funding is reclaimed from central government towards the costs incurred in looking after an unaccompanied asylum seeking child.
I ask that you issue the data regarding the current council quota, how many unaccompanied minors you are taking in per month at the moment, and under which schemes (since July 2016). By that, I mean, how many are taken on from other districts like Kent and how many are/were transferred through schemes like Dubs.
We do hold information about the number of children taken in per month under various schemes however we consider that to disclose exact numbers would potentially identify individuals and therefore we are withholding the information under Section 40 0f the Freedom of Information Act – Personal Information.Please search on our Disclosure Log under unaccompanied asylum seeking children for responses to previous requests which provide annual and overall totals.
I further request information as to the amount of money this care costs per month per individual or money put towards unaccompanied minors per month, and what percentage of the council’s overall budget this makes up.
The total budget set for 2017/18 for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (and those who go onto become Care Leavers) is £421,000. This figure is made up of the cost of supporting these young people and also the grant income Devon County Council receives from the Home Office. The total Council budget is published on our public website.