The Unaccompanied care leavers and asylum seekers report

Dear Sir

Thank you for your request for information held by the Council under the
provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which was received
yesterday.

We will contact you again once it has been ascertained what data is held by
Birmingham City Council. In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if
that is the case, we will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to
you, and you will be required to pay before we will proceed to deal with
your request.

If you require any further information or are not happy with our response
please do not hesitate to contact me quoting the reference number above in
any future communications.

Yours sincerely
Steve Cullen
Data Protection and Freedom of Information Manager
Children, Young People and Families Directorate
Birmingham City Council

Tel: 0121 464 4591
Email: [email address]

Data Protection Act 1998
The information you have provided within your Freedom of Information
request will be held on our database and may also be held within manual
records for a period of 2 years from the date Birmingham City Council
received your request. Any personal data that you provide to Birmingham
City Council will be held in line with the requirements set out within the
Data Protection Act 1998.

Re Use of Public Sector Information
Where Birmingham City Council is the copyright holder of any information
that may be released, re-use for personal, educational or non-commercial
purposes is permitted without further reference to the City Council. Where
the re-use is for other purposes, such as commercial re-use, the applicant
should notify the City Council in writing to seek approval or agree terms
for re-use.

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Dear Ms Potter

Further to your request for information regarding:

The Unaccompanied care leavers and asylum seekers report @

http://www.kent.gov.uk/publications/coun...

mentions that 16 and 17 year old newly arrived Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking
Children (UASC) are most often than not accommodated under Section 20 of
the Children Act (1989), hereafter referred to as "Section 20". This duty
can be discharged, after a needs assessment, then they can be supported
under the Children (Leaving Care) Act (2000) and or Section 17 of the
Children Act (1989), hereafter referred to as "Section 17". The report
indicates this practice is similar to the one used for 16 and 17 year old
indigenous young people in like circumstances.

To help understand how this practice operates can you please advise me, in
the final quarter of 2008 (October, November and December 2008) how many
newly arrived 16 and 17 year old UASC you accommodated under Section 20 for
the first time and for each individual UASC please advise of.

Please see our responses below:

A) The exact age of each individual UASC was when first accommodated -
Using the formula that indicates how many full years
and months has elapsed since birth. Such as 16.4, meaning 16 years and
4 months.

New admissions October to December 2008

Age at admission Admission presented for Date of discharge
Date assessed Leaving care
service AND date admitted to
be an adult services
to s20 accommodation
16 yrs 11 months 13 October 2008 n/a
15 years 9 months 13 October 2008 30/10/2008
30/10/2008
17 years 9 months 14 October 2008 n/a
16 years 6 months 26 October 2008 n/a
17 years 11 months 3 November 2008 21/11/2008
Yes
16 years 10 months 11 November 2008 n/a
17 years 2 months 19 November 2008 06/03/2009
06/03/2009
16 years 10 months 19 November 2008 n/a
16 years 2 months 26 November 2008 23/01/2009
23/01/2009
16 years 11 months 1 December 2008 20/01/2009
20/01/2009
16 years 5 months 5 December 2008 n/a
17 years 10 months 8 December 2008 01/02/2009
01/02/2009
12 years 11 months 15 December 2008 16/02/2009
16/02/2009
15 years 11 months 15 December 2008 01/01/2009
03/02/2009
14 years 11 months 15 December 2008 31/12/2008
29/12/2008

B) The exact date each individual first became accommodated under
Section 20.

As above all UASC are admitted to accommodation under s20 Children
Act 1989 on the day they present for service

C) An indication, of a Yes or No, on whether you have provided any
individual UASC with Section 17 support, prior to them being
accommodated under Section 20 on the date given in section B.

No in relation to all

D) If, at present, any individual has been discharged from Section 20,
please advise of the exact date this discharge took effect.

See above

E) Whether any services are currently provided, to each individual,
under the Children (Leaving Care) Act.

Only one -as shown above - has l;eaving care services. other still
s20 or discharged as assessed to be adults

F) Whether any services are currently provided, to each individual,
under Section 17 of the Children Act .

No services provided under s17 Children Act 1989

G) The exact date any individual UASC was assessed as being 18 or more
years of age.

See above

In your response please also state with a simple Yes or No, on whether or
not you follow the practice of not accommodating a UASC under Section
20 until you have assessed them as being under the age of 18?

No

If your not happy with this response you can ask for an internal reveiw, to
do this please contact Birmingham City Council’s central FOI Team at this
address:

Corporate DP/FOI Team
1st Floor,
1 Lancaster Circus,
Birmingham
B4 7AB

Tel: 0121 303 1909 email: [Birmingham City Council request email]

-4-

If subsequently you are not satisfied with the Council’s decision you may
apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the ICO
cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure
provided by the Council. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at
the following address:

The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545745
Web Address: www.ico.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Steve Cullen

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