Note of Ministerial Meeting with Liam Byrne MP, Minister for Borders and Immigration 
and Kevin Brennan MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children, Young 
People and Families, with London Councils and the Local Government Association  
 
Date: 22 April 2008 
 
Attendees:  
Liam Byrne MP (Home Office), Kevin Brennan MP (Department for Children, Schools and 
Families), Cllr Roger Lawrence (LGA), Cllr Merrick Cockell (London Councils), Cllr Paul 
Carter (Kent)  
 
Matthew Coates (Home Office), Paul Darling (Home Office), Jeremy Oppenheim (Home 
Office), Brian Kinney (Home Office), Dee Burke (Home Office), Mark Burrows (DCSF), John 
Ransford (LGA), Helen Johnston (London Councils) 
 
The two issues raised with ministers were: 
 
1.  Funding for unaccompanied asylum seeking children leaving care 
 
2.  Special Circumstances funding 2006/07 for unaccompanied asylum seeking children 
(UASC) 
 
1. Funding for unaccompanied asylum seeking children leaving care 
 
Cllr Lawrence set out the need to resolve ongoing funding issues for UASC leaving care so 
that we can draw a line under the old system of support for asylum seeking children and 
deliver the principles of the UASC reform programme.  
 
Cllr Carter described the funding pressures in the “Joint Councils” group of the 10 highest 
spending local authorities on asylum seekers. He set out the shortfalls in his own authority, 
Kent, which spends £5 million per year on UASC leaving care and receives funding for just 
half of this giving an annual shortfall of £2.5 million. Cllr Cockell described the situation in 
Hillingdon which has an outstanding deficit of £15.5 million since the Hillingdon Judgement 
ruled that local authorities have a duty to support UASC leaving care with education and 
associated costs. 
 
The government outlined the distinction between invalid claims and unmet costs. Around 
13% of the current grant claims for UASC leaving care are invalid which means support was 
given to people without a genuine asylum claim. The local government representatives 
clarified that this was not a discussion about invalid claims, and that they accepted that 
payments should not be made where the grant conditions have not been met, but that this 
was a discussion about the shortfall between the total spend on UASC leaving care and the 
contribution through the DCSF grant.   
 
Cllr Cockell pointed to the government’s New Burdens principle which states that any new 
burden on local authority should be met in full – not partially as is the current arrangement 
with UASC leaving care. This has cross party agreement from local authorities and a partial 
contribution is not good enough. Local authority estimates are that the shortfall in 2006/07 
alone will be £32 million. 
 
 
 
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2. Special circumstances 2006/07 
 
John Ransford described the breakdown in the process for negotiating special circumstances 
bids in 2006/07. London Councils and the LGA were not informed of the proposed allocations 
and did not know the levels of funding until member authorities received letters offering an 
unsatisfactory settlement of 70% to the 3 gateway authorities and 38% to all other 
authorities. Paul Darling clarified that shortfalls are only on the levels over the basic and 
enhanced rates which are met in full but local government representatives stated that this still 
amounts to £10 million and is unacceptable. 
 
Liam Byrne referred to inconsistencies in administration costs where, for example, the 
number of UASC supported in Kent has fallen by 39% but administrative costs have fallen by 
just 4%. Cllr Carter explained that the facilities were put in place by the local authority to 
support previous levels of asylum seekers and this cost had to be met whether places were 
taken up or not. There will always be a lag in the reduction of costs for a service where 
numbers fall. 
 
Cllr Lawrence made the case that administration costs were still just 25% of the total 
expenditure on UASC. Cllr Cockell stated that the local government associations will contact 
member authorities to provide individual explanations where costs have not fallen in line with 
numbers and that we can then get into the negotiation of funding levels for 2006/07. 
PriceWaterhouseCoopers has audited Kent, Hillingdon, Oxfordshire and West Sussex and 
has independently validated the expenditure on UASC. 
 
Liam Byrne concluded the meeting reflecting on the future of the UASC reform programme 
and, in particular, the need for authorities to come forward as specialist authorities. He 
acknowledges that these discussions can not progress until these funding legacy issues are 
resolved. He made a commitment to working on this shared agenda with local government. 
 
Actions agreed in the meeting 
 
•  It was agreed that a meeting between officials and local government officers would 
take place within a month to go through the detail of the claims and shortfalls. 
•  Members and Ministers will act on the conclusions of that joint meeting. 
 
 
 Actions agreed in debrief after the meeting 
 
•  Members agreed not to support progress with the future arrangements for 
UASC reform, including identification of specialist authorities, until these 
funding issues are resolved. The current situation is that any specialist 
authority will be left with a financial burden when UASC in their care reach 18. 
 
•  The LGA will convene a full day session with DCSF and Home Office officials to 
consider both UASC leaving care and special circumstances for 2006/07. Local 
authority experts will be invited to attend. 
 
•  The LGA and London Councils will submit a joint letter to Ed Balls MP 
(Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families) and Jacqui Smith MP 
(Home Secretary) to confirm local government’s position on this funding. 
 
 
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