Dear J Cassidy

Request pursuant to Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Request No 860.

I refer to your recent enquiry for information held by the Council.

Under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, the authority must state whether or not the information exists and I confirm that we do hold the information you requested.

Please find the information you requested enclosed. You requested;

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.

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

Workers? 

Age Assessments are conducted by our asylum team coordinator  and another worker, be that a qualified social worker or a social work assistant, an interpreter is also present.

The coordinator is OISC registered and has undertaken in excess of 700 assessments. If she is unavailable we ask The Social Work Company (an independent provider also appropriately trained) to undertake these assessments on our behalf with another worker from the fieldwork teams and an interpreter, and or our Luton colleagues sometime assist.

They are conducted within all relevant guidelines as attached.

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. 

As above  

2) 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. 

Please see attached guidelines and advice I would expect the assessors to act independently and be giving the young person professional advice, as well as the interpreters taking an independent view. I am not sure what value there is including another adult given the state the majority of young people have when they arrive, e.g. they are already subject to an interview with three strangers given their circumstances and I am not sure the benefits of another stranger joining that forum.  This is not something we routinely offer but of course ask if there is anybody they would like us to contact.

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

Please see attached documents  

If after viewing the information you are for whatever reason unhappy with our response to your application you are entitled to pursue any dissatisfaction through the Council's Internal Review Procedure. Pursuant to Section 17 (7) of the Act the procedure provided by the Council for dealing with complaints about the determination of this request for information is the Council's Corporate Complaints Procedure, a copy of which can be obtained on request or is set out at: www.bedford.gov.uk

Your attention is drawn to the provisions of section 50 of the Act set out below regarding applications for decision by the Commissioner:

“50. - (1) Any person (in this section referred to as "the complainant") may apply to the Commissioner for a decision whether, in any specified respect, a request for information made by the complainant to a public authority has been dealt with in accordance with the requirements of Part I.

(2) On receiving an application under this section, the Commissioner shall make a decision unless it appears to him-

(a) that the complainant has not exhausted any complaints procedure which is provided by the public authority in conformity with the code of practice under section 45,

(b) that there has been undue delay in making the application,

(c) that the application is frivolous or vexatious, or

(d) that the application has been withdrawn or abandoned.

(3) Where the Commissioner has received an application under this section, he shall either-

(a) notify the complainant that he has not made any decision under this section as a result of the application and of his grounds for not doing so, or

(b) serve notice of his decision (in this Act referred to as a "decision notice") on the complainant and the public authority.

(4) Where the Commissioner decides that a public authority-

(a) has failed to communicate information, or to provide confirmation or denial, in a case where it is required to do so by section 1(1), or

(b) has failed to comply with any of the requirements of sections 11 and 17, the decision notice must specify the steps which must be taken by the authority for complying with that requirement and the period within which they must be taken.

(5) A decision notice must contain particulars of the right of appeal conferred by section 57.

(6) Where a decision notice requires steps to be taken by the public authority within a specified period, the time specified in the notice must not expire before the end of the period within which an appeal can be brought against the notice and, if such an appeal is brought, no step which is affected by the appeal need be taken pending the determination or withdrawal of the appeal.

(7) This section has effect subject to section 53.”

Yours sincerely

Mrs Charlie Gartland

Access to Records Officer

Borough Hall,

Cauldwell Street, Bedford MK42 9AP

Telephone (01234) 267422 Fax (01234) 221606

Borough Hall,

Cauldwell Street, Bedford MK42 9AP

Telephone (01234) 267422 Fax (01234) 221606