Dear Sir or Madam,

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.

Relevant quotes:

"The social workers involved in the decision making process who are
employed by the local authorities in these cases have had training
and do have substantial experience in assessing the age of UASCs.

My conclusion is that age determination, being part of broader
questions relating to the provision of accommodation, and being but
one of the many responsibilities for local authorities to provide
support for children and families under Part III, are decisions
which fall squarely within the social field of child care and are,
therefore, customarily and properly entrusted to the social workers
to decide.

This is based partly on the contention that their judgment can be
no better than that of the experienced social worker...

It is said that her opinions in a number of cases show a consistent
disagreement with the social workers' factual observations always
in favour of the individual in question.

While recognising and indeed supporting the use of social workers
and other professionals he records concerns that financial
pressures can influence the assessment of age since the particular
age of an individual will require a greater or lesser expenditure
on him.

But the real question in these cases is whether a report from a
paediatrician which reaches a conclusion contrary to that found by
experienced social workers means that the assessment must be varied
in the UASC's favour.

It is Dr Stern's view that a paediatrician is unlikely to be able
to reach a conclusion which is superior to that reached by an
experienced social worker, provided, of course, that the social
worker is properly trained and experienced and conducted the
necessary interview in an appropriate fashion.

Thus I do not think that the existence of a report from Dr Birch
can generally attract any greater weight than the observations of
an experienced social worker. In order to comply with the
Hillingdon and Croydon guidelines, the assessments of social
workers will be made by two working together and based upon
interviews and observations over a far greater time period than
that available to Dr Birch or indeed any paediatrician instructed
by a UASC representative.

All this presupposes that the authority's decision is made by
properly trained and experienced social workers in accordance with
the guidelines approved by Stanley Burnton J in B v Merton.

Each authority has put before the court evidence of the training
given to and the experience of the social workers who have to deal
with age assessment.

She is satisfied from her experience that the reports of Drs Michie
and Birch do not raise matters which cast doubt on the reliability
of the decision reached by the two social workers."

etc

Reference:

[1] A Claimant - and - London Borough of Croydon - and – Secretary
of State for the Home Department Defendant Interested Party And WK
Claimant - and - Secretary of State for the Home Department First
Defendant - and - Kent County Council Second Defendant
[2009] EWHC 939 (Admin), 8 May 2009
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admi...

: Your correspondence :

Please ensure that any of your general correspondence,
acknowledgements or holding letters etc are included or
cut-and-pasted into the body of the email messages, using plain
text, rather than as attachments. As this will mean your
correspondence is much easier to access, read and respond to.

: Accessibility :

When providing any information disclosures please provide it in the
original unrestricted format such as:

a. MS Word .doc or Rich Text Text .rtf format or equivalent
(suitable for disclosure of email messages)

b.Spreadsheets in MS Excel .xls format or equivalent

c.Presentations in MS Powerpoint .ppt format or equivalent

or converted to Portable Document Format (PDF), ONLY if none of the
above formats are available

if you only have a paper version (hard copy) available, please
provide a Digital Photo Copier Scanned version in PDF format. If
you do provide disclosures in PDF from a Digital Photo Copier Scan,
please state that you have done so because no other format, such as
a, b or c above, are available.

If you need to redact text elements of any disclosure can you
please ensure that the rest of text based information remains
accessible to a Screen Reader.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_reader>

Please ensure any electronic disclosures are absolutely free of any
Document Restrictions and Encryption or Passwords, as this is
likely to render them less usable on a general basis and more
specifically, inaccessible to Assistive Technology.

Please do not send any information in compilation archive formats,
such as .zip.

Providing correspondence and disclosed information via these means
will help ensure that text based information is accessible for use
with a Screen Reader or a Magnifier for none text based information
and will prevent any further and separate representations under the
Disability Discrimination Act. If you are unable to meet these
reasonably practicable accessibility requests please state why and
provide a copy of any internal information, such as a policy relied
upon that would explain such a decision

Yours faithfully,

Cassidy, J

London Borough of Lambeth: our disclaimer is at the end of this e-mail.
***********************************************************************************

Dear Mr Cassidy

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request which is now receiving
attention. Please note that a response will be sent to you by 23 June
2009.

In the meantime, please contact me if you have any query, quoting the
above reference number.

Regards
Patience Wilson
Children's Complaints Manager
Performance Management
Children and Young People's service
London Borough of Lambeth

Ph:020 7926 6335
fax: 020 7926 4821
email: [email address]

International House
Canterbury Crescent
London SW9 7QE

'Making a difference'

From: Cassidy, J [mailto:[FOI #12441 email]]
Sent: 25 May 2009 05:23
To: FoI
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Social Workers conducting age
assessments of young people claiming asylum. (Lambeth 25 05 09)

Dear Sir or Madam,

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.

Relevant quotes:

"The social workers involved in the decision making process who are
employed by the local authorities in these cases have had training
and do have substantial experience in assessing the age of UASCs.

My conclusion is that age determination, being part of broader
questions relating to the provision of accommodation, and being but
one of the many responsibilities for local authorities to provide
support for children and families under Part III, are decisions
which fall squarely within the social field of child care and are,
therefore, customarily and properly entrusted to the social workers
to decide.

This is based partly on the contention that their judgment can be
no better than that of the experienced social worker...

It is said that her opinions in a number of cases show a consistent
disagreement with the social workers' factual observations always
in favour of the individual in question.

While recognising and indeed supporting the use of social workers
and other professionals he records concerns that financial
pressures can influence the assessment of age since the particular
age of an individual will require a greater or lesser expenditure
on him.

But the real question in these cases is whether a report from a
paediatrician which reaches a conclusion contrary to that found by
experienced social workers means that the assessment must be varied
in the UASC's favour.

It is Dr Stern's view that a paediatrician is unlikely to be able
to reach a conclusion which is superior to that reached by an
experienced social worker, provided, of course, that the social
worker is properly trained and experienced and conducted the
necessary interview in an appropriate fashion.

Thus I do not think that the existence of a report from Dr Birch
can generally attract any greater weight than the observations of
an experienced social worker. In order to comply with the
Hillingdon and Croydon guidelines, the assessments of social
workers will be made by two working together and based upon
interviews and observations over a far greater time period than
that available to Dr Birch or indeed any paediatrician instructed
by a UASC representative.

All this presupposes that the authority's decision is made by
properly trained and experienced social workers in accordance with
the guidelines approved by Stanley Burnton J in B v Merton.

Each authority has put before the court evidence of the training
given to and the experience of the social workers who have to deal
with age assessment.

She is satisfied from her experience that the reports of Drs Michie
and Birch do not raise matters which cast doubt on the reliability
of the decision reached by the two social workers."

etc

Reference:

[1] A Claimant - and - London Borough of Croydon - and - Secretary
of State for the Home Department Defendant Interested Party And WK
Claimant - and - Secretary of State for the Home Department First
Defendant - and - Kent County Council Second Defendant [2009] EWHC
939 (Admin), 8 May 2009
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admi...

: Your correspondence :

Please ensure that any of your general correspondence,
acknowledgements or holding letters etc are included or
cut-and-pasted into the body of the email messages, using plain
text, rather than as attachments. As this will mean your
correspondence is much easier to access, read and respond to.

: Accessibility :

When providing any information disclosures please provide it in the
original unrestricted format such as:

a. MS Word .doc or Rich Text Text .rtf format or equivalent
(suitable for disclosure of email messages)

b.Spreadsheets in MS Excel .xls format or equivalent

c.Presentations in MS Powerpoint .ppt format or equivalent

or converted to Portable Document Format (PDF), ONLY if none of the
above formats are available

if you only have a paper version (hard copy) available, please
provide a Digital Photo Copier Scanned version in PDF format. If
you do provide disclosures in PDF from a Digital Photo Copier Scan,
please state that you have done so because no other format, such as
a, b or c above, are available.

If you need to redact text elements of any disclosure can you
please ensure that the rest of text based information remains
accessible to a Screen Reader.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_reader>

Please ensure any electronic disclosures are absolutely free of any
Document Restrictions and Encryption or Passwords, as this is
likely to render them less usable on a general basis and more
specifically, inaccessible to Assistive Technology.

Please do not send any information in compilation archive formats,
such as .zip.

Providing correspondence and disclosed information via these means
will help ensure that text based information is accessible for use
with a Screen Reader or a Magnifier for none text based information
and will prevent any further and separate representations under the
Disability Discrimination Act. If you are unable to meet these
reasonably practicable accessibility requests please state why and
provide a copy of any internal information, such as a policy relied
upon that would explain such a decision

Yours faithfully,

Cassidy, J

show quoted sections

Dear Wilson,Patience,

This request is currently overdue a response from Lambeth Borough
Council. By law, the response had to be prompt but no later than 23
June 2009

Yours sincerely,

Cassidy, J

London Borough of Lambeth: our disclaimer is at the end of this e-mail.

show quoted sections

London Borough of Lambeth: our disclaimer is at the end of this e-mail.

***********************************************************************************

Dear Mr Cassidy

Ref: 113689

In response to your recent FOI request please find following and attached
our response:-

Q: 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: -

Q: Age assessments are always conducted by at least two Social

Workers?

A: Yes, age assessments are always conducted by two social workers.

Q: That since 01 April 2005 you have always used at least two

Social Workers?

A: Yes, since 01 April 2005 we have always used two social workers in age
assessment.

Q: 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.

A: This is a decision that must be taken by each local authority. We have
never made that assertion and are of the opinion that it is an assessment
to be undertaken by social services and by the nature of the
presentations, an assessment that is undertaken almost immediately. An
adult present has never been a requirement. There is an interpreter and
two social workers present. What we have advised when the decision is
negative is that the client can seek legal advice if unhappy about the
decision. However, in the past on some re-assessments (and if requested)
we have allowed a Refugee Council Worker to be present.

We continue to follow the guidance as given in the Merton judgement.

Q: Please provide copies of any age assessment guidance or training

material you hold.

A: The following documents are attached to this email;-

. Age Assessment of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Child' document.

. IND Policy on Age Assessment

. Practice guidance for Age Assessment of Young Unaccompanied
Asylum Seekers

. Age Assessment Joint Working Protocol between Immigration and
Nationality Directorate of the Home Office (IND) and Association of
Directors of Social Services (ADSS) (For UK Local Government and Statutory
Childcare Agencies.

. Age Assessments (Presented by Sallie Harrington - Creighton &
Partners.

. Merton Judgement (age assessment case and Guidance from judge).

I trust that this information addresses your enquiry, however if you are
dissatisfied with the way in which your Freedom of Information request has
been dealt with you can request an internal review by emailing:
[1][email address] (please quote the reference number above) or
by writing to:

Corporate Complaints Manager

Lambeth Town Hall

Brixton Hill

Brixton

SW2 1RW

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the review, you have a
further right to appeal to the Information Commissioner, who regulates the
implementation of the Freedom of Information Act. The Commissioner can be
contacted at the following address:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Dunevia Bakpa
Information Governance Team
Systems Training & Data Quality Assurance Performance Management Unit
Children and Young Peoples Service (CYPS)
London Borough of Lambeth
phone: 020 7926 9777
fax: 020 7926 4821
email: [email address] <[2]mailto:[email address]>
website: <[3]http://www.lambeth.gov.uk>

^1st Floor, International House
Canterbury Crescent
Brixton SW9 7QE

^Making a difference

From: Cassidy, J [[4]mailto:[FOI #12441 email]]

Sent: 25 May 2009 05:23

To: FoI

Subject: Freedom of Information request - Social Workers conducting age
assessments of young people claiming asylum. (Lambeth 25 05 09)

Dear Sir or Madam,

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.

Relevant quotes:

"The social workers involved in the decision making process who are

employed by the local authorities in these cases have had training

and do have substantial experience in assessing the age of UASCs.

My conclusion is that age determination, being part of broader

questions relating to the provision of accommodation, and being but

one of the many responsibilities for local authorities to provide

support for children and families under Part III, are decisions

which fall squarely within the social field of child care and are,

therefore, customarily and properly entrusted to the social workers

to decide.

This is based partly on the contention that their judgment can be

no better than that of the experienced social worker...

It is said that her opinions in a number of cases show a consistent

disagreement with the social workers' factual observations always

in favour of the individual in question.

While recognising and indeed supporting the use of social workers

and other professionals he records concerns that financial

pressures can influence the assessment of age since the particular

age of an individual will require a greater or lesser expenditure

on him.

But the real question in these cases is whether a report from a

paediatrician which reaches a conclusion contrary to that found by

experienced social workers means that the assessment must be varied

in the UASC's favour.

It is Dr Stern's view that a paediatrician is unlikely to be able

to reach a conclusion which is superior to that reached by an

experienced social worker, provided, of course, that the social

worker is properly trained and experienced and conducted the

necessary interview in an appropriate fashion.

Thus I do not think that the existence of a report from Dr Birch

can generally attract any greater weight than the observations of

an experienced social worker. In order to comply with the

Hillingdon and Croydon guidelines, the assessments of social

workers will be made by two working together and based upon

interviews and observations over a far greater time period than

that available to Dr Birch or indeed any paediatrician instructed

by a UASC representative.

All this presupposes that the authority's decision is made by

properly trained and experienced social workers in accordance with

the guidelines approved by Stanley Burnton J in B v Merton.

Each authority has put before the court evidence of the training

given to and the experience of the social workers who have to deal

with age assessment.

She is satisfied from her experience that the reports of Drs Michie

and Birch do not raise matters which cast doubt on the reliability

of the decision reached by the two social workers."

etc

Reference:

[1] A Claimant - and - London Borough of Croydon - and - Secretary

of State for the Home Department Defendant Interested Party And WK

Claimant - and - Secretary of State for the Home Department First

Defendant - and - Kent County Council Second Defendant [2009] EWHC

939 (Admin), 8 May 2009

[5]http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admi...

: Your correspondence :

Please ensure that any of your general correspondence,

acknowledgements or holding letters etc are included or

cut-and-pasted into the body of the email messages, using plain

text, rather than as attachments. As this will mean your

correspondence is much easier to access, read and respond to.

: Accessibility :

When providing any information disclosures please provide it in the

original unrestricted format such as:

a. MS Word .doc or Rich Text Text .rtf format or equivalent

(suitable for disclosure of email messages)

b.Spreadsheets in MS Excel .xls format or equivalent

c.Presentations in MS Powerpoint .ppt format or equivalent

or converted to Portable Document Format (PDF), ONLY if none of the

above formats are available

if you only have a paper version (hard copy) available, please

provide a Digital Photo Copier Scanned version in PDF format. If

you do provide disclosures in PDF from a Digital Photo Copier Scan,

please state that you have done so because no other format, such as

a, b or c above, are available.

If you need to redact text elements of any disclosure can you

please ensure that the rest of text based information remains

accessible to a Screen Reader.

<[6]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_reader>

Please ensure any electronic disclosures are absolutely free of any

Document Restrictions and Encryption or Passwords, as this is

likely to render them less usable on a general basis and more

specifically, inaccessible to Assistive Technology.

Please do not send any information in compilation archive formats,

such as .zip.

Providing correspondence and disclosed information via these means

will help ensure that text based information is accessible for use

with a Screen Reader or a Magnifier for none text based information

and will prevent any further and separate representations under the

Disability Discrimination Act. If you are unable to meet these

reasonably practicable accessibility requests please state why and

provide a copy of any internal information, such as a policy relied

upon that would explain such a decision

Yours faithfully,

Cassidy, J

show quoted sections

London Borough of Lambeth: our disclaimer is at the end of this e-mail.

show quoted sections

London Borough of Lambeth: our disclaimer is at the end of this e-mail.

***********************************************************************************

Dear Mr Cassidy

Ref: 113689

In response to your recent FOI request please find following and attached
our response:-

Q: 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: -

Q: Age assessments are always conducted by at least two Social

Workers?

A: Yes, age assessments are always conducted by two social workers.

Q: That since 01 April 2005 you have always used at least two

Social Workers?

A: Yes, since 01 April 2005 we have always used two social workers in age
assessment.

Q: 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.

A: This is a decision that must be taken by each local authority. We have
never made that assertion and are of the opinion that it is an assessment
to be undertaken by social services and by the nature of the
presentations, an assessment that is undertaken almost immediately. An
adult present has never been a requirement. There is an interpreter and
two social workers present. What we have advised when the decision is
negative is that the client can seek legal advice if unhappy about the
decision. However, in the past on some re-assessments (and if requested)
we have allowed a Refugee Council Worker to be present.

We continue to follow the guidance as given in the Merton judgement.

Q: Please provide copies of any age assessment guidance or training

material you hold.

A: The following documents are attached to this email;-

. Age Assessment of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Child' document.

. IND Policy on Age Assessment

. Practice guidance for Age Assessment of Young Unaccompanied
Asylum Seekers

. Age Assessment Joint Working Protocol between Immigration and
Nationality Directorate of the Home Office (IND) and Association of
Directors of Social Services (ADSS) (For UK Local Government and Statutory
Childcare Agencies.

. Age Assessments (Presented by Sallie Harrington - Creighton &
Partners.

. Merton Judgement (age assessment case and Guidance from judge).

I trust that this information addresses your enquiry, however if you are
dissatisfied with the way in which your Freedom of Information request has
been dealt with you can request an internal review by emailing:
[1][email address] (please quote the reference number above) or
by writing to:

Corporate Complaints Manager

Lambeth Town Hall

Brixton Hill

Brixton

SW2 1RW

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the review, you have a
further right to appeal to the Information Commissioner, who regulates the
implementation of the Freedom of Information Act. The Commissioner can be
contacted at the following address:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Dunevia Bakpa
Information Governance Team
Systems Training & Data Quality Assurance Performance Management Unit
Children and Young Peoples Service (CYPS)
London Borough of Lambeth
phone: 020 7926 9777
fax: 020 7926 4821
email: [email address] <[2]mailto:[email address]>
website: <[3]http://www.lambeth.gov.uk>

^1st Floor, International House
Canterbury Crescent
Brixton SW9 7QE

^Making a difference

From: Cassidy, J [[4]mailto:[FOI #12441 email]]

Sent: 25 May 2009 05:23

To: FoI

Subject: Freedom of Information request - Social Workers conducting age
assessments of young people claiming asylum. (Lambeth 25 05 09)

Dear Sir or Madam,

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.

Relevant quotes:

"The social workers involved in the decision making process who are

employed by the local authorities in these cases have had training

and do have substantial experience in assessing the age of UASCs.

My conclusion is that age determination, being part of broader

questions relating to the provision of accommodation, and being but

one of the many responsibilities for local authorities to provide

support for children and families under Part III, are decisions

which fall squarely within the social field of child care and are,

therefore, customarily and properly entrusted to the social workers

to decide.

This is based partly on the contention that their judgment can be

no better than that of the experienced social worker...

It is said that her opinions in a number of cases show a consistent

disagreement with the social workers' factual observations always

in favour of the individual in question.

While recognising and indeed supporting the use of social workers

and other professionals he records concerns that financial

pressures can influence the assessment of age since the particular

age of an individual will require a greater or lesser expenditure

on him.

But the real question in these cases is whether a report from a

paediatrician which reaches a conclusion contrary to that found by

experienced social workers means that the assessment must be varied

in the UASC's favour.

It is Dr Stern's view that a paediatrician is unlikely to be able

to reach a conclusion which is superior to that reached by an

experienced social worker, provided, of course, that the social

worker is properly trained and experienced and conducted the

necessary interview in an appropriate fashion.

Thus I do not think that the existence of a report from Dr Birch

can generally attract any greater weight than the observations of

an experienced social worker. In order to comply with the

Hillingdon and Croydon guidelines, the assessments of social

workers will be made by two working together and based upon

interviews and observations over a far greater time period than

that available to Dr Birch or indeed any paediatrician instructed

by a UASC representative.

All this presupposes that the authority's decision is made by

properly trained and experienced social workers in accordance with

the guidelines approved by Stanley Burnton J in B v Merton.

Each authority has put before the court evidence of the training

given to and the experience of the social workers who have to deal

with age assessment.

She is satisfied from her experience that the reports of Drs Michie

and Birch do not raise matters which cast doubt on the reliability

of the decision reached by the two social workers."

etc

Reference:

[1] A Claimant - and - London Borough of Croydon - and - Secretary

of State for the Home Department Defendant Interested Party And WK

Claimant - and - Secretary of State for the Home Department First

Defendant - and - Kent County Council Second Defendant [2009] EWHC

939 (Admin), 8 May 2009

[5]http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admi...

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Yours faithfully,

Cassidy, J

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Dear Mr Cassidy

Thank you for your email.

I have checked our records and note that a response was sent to you
yesterday.

My colleague had actually prepared a response to go out on 16 June 09.
However, she only realised yesterday that it was in her 'draft' folder
and had not gone out. I have nevertheless attached a copy.

I apologise for this error and hope our response meets with your
requirements.

Regards
Patience Wilson
Children's Complaints Manager
Performance Management
Children and Young People's service
London Borough of Lambeth

Ph:020 7926 6335
fax: 020 7926 4821
email: [email address]

International House
Canterbury Crescent
London SW9 7QE

'Making a difference'

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