22 June 2009 Our ref: RQST00002475750

J Cassidy

[FOI #12438 email] mailto:[FOI #12438 email]

Request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

I refer your correspondence dated 25 May 2009 requesting the following information:

The recent court ruling A v London Borough of Croydon, WK v Kent Borough Council [2009] EWHC 939 (Admin), 8 May 2009, [1] makes a number of references to the practice of two Social Workers conducting age assessments of young people claiming asylum. In view of the fact that the Care Standards Act 2000 (Chapter 14 (part 1V) section 61) contained provisions for the protection of the professional title of "Social Worker" and that anyone using this Title has to be registered on one of the UK Social Care Registers, (since 01 April 2005) can you Confirm or Deny the following:

1) Age assessments are always conducted by at least two Social Workers?

1.1) If they are not always conducted by at least two Social Workers, can you provide information that explains this apparent anomaly and provide details of the job Titles of those who currently conduct age assessments.

2) That since 01 April 2005 you have always used at least two Social Workers?

2.1) If you have not always used two Social Workers, since 01 April 2005, please provide details of the job Titles of those who currently conduct age assessments.

3) During said Court case a Helen Johnson, Refugee Council's Children's Panel, questioned the assertion by a Ms Janet Patrick, senior manager of the Croydon Council's Unaccompanied Minors' Team, that Council's are routinely advising applicants that they can have an adult present to give support during their age assessment.

Therefore can you provide copies of any information you hold, such as policies, memos, notes and guidance, (showing dates issued/written/drafted) as given to Social Workers, the applicants or anyone else, that confirms or Denies that applicants are routinely advised that they can have an adult present to give support.

4) Please provide copies of any age assessment guidance or training material you hold.

I can confirm that the Council is treating your request as a request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and that we hold the information in question.

Request 1: Age assessments undertaken by Glasgow City Council are conducted by two workers, at least one of whom will be a qualified social worker.

Request 1.1: Age assessments are carried out by Practice Team Leader, Social Worker, Care Manager and Social Care Worker - two qualified workers and two unqualified workers. It is not always possible for the two qualified workers to do all the age assessments together and so the assessment may be done either by two qualified workers or by one qualified and one unqualified worker.

Request 2: See answer to 1.1. It has been the case on occasions after April 2005 that assessments have been done by a qualified and an unqualified worker.

Request 2.1: Job titles are as stated at 1.1.

Request 3: We cannot provide copies of information that either confirms or denies that applicants are routinely advised that they can have an adult present to give support. Attached is the Hillingdon Merton compliant age assessment form and practice guidelines (1 page note).

The guidance does not refer to applicants being advised that they may have an adult present to support them, so it may be assumed that this advice is not routinely given to applicants. However, I have been advised by the senior officer for the Children's Rights Service that she has personally been present to give support to young people during such assessments.

The position therefore seems to be that, in the absence of specific guidance on this issue, individual staff have on occasion exercised their professional judgment to offer support to the young person.

Request 4: There was an internal meeting to discuss age assessments at Portman Street on 8 September 2008. Attached is a note of feedback from the discussion. Also, the asylum assessment team attended Refugee Council training but the Council does not hold copies material associated with this training. I would ask you to contact the Scottish Refugee Council if you require copies.

I hope the above information is helpful.

If you are dissatisfied with the way Glasgow City Council has dealt with your request you are entitled to require the Council to review its decision. Please note that for a review to take place you must:

The Solicitor to the Council

Glasgow City Council

City Chambers

George Square

Glasgow G2 1DU Email: [email address]

You will receive notice of the results of the review within 20 working days of receipt of your request. The notice will state the decision reached by the reviewing officer as well as details of how to appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner if you are still dissatisfied with the Council's response. You must request an internal review by the Council before a complaint can be directed to the Scottish Information Commissioner.

Yours sincerely,

Jim Charlton

Principal Officer

Rights & Enquiries Section

Social Work Services