The Unaccompanied care leavers and asylum seekers report

Ms T Potter made this Freedom of Information request to Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council did not have the information requested.

From: Ms T Potter

8 June 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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?

To help comply with this information request please use my
pro-forma spreadsheet, which you can download @

members.lycos.co.uk/potterfamily/foiaspreadsheet.xls
http://members.lycos.co.uk/potterfamily/...

Yours faithfully,

Ms T Potter

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Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

9 June 2009

Dear Ms Potter

I am emailing to confirm receipt of your FOI request to Wigan Council.

We will respond as soon as possible, and in any case, no later than 6th
July 2009, which is 20 working days after receipt of your request.

If you have any further comments or questions in the meantime, please
direct them to the Council's FOI Officer, Tim Turner, at
[email address], or at Wigan Council, Town Hall, Library Street,
Wigan WN1 1YN.

Regards

Jayne Highton
Legal Team Support Officer
Ext 01942 827668
Int x2668

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Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

16 June 2009

Dear Ms Potter

I am writing further to your Freedom of Information request of 8 June 2009
regarding Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children.

After speaking to my colleagues in Children and Young People's Services I
can confirm that Wigan has no children who fall into the category of UASC.

As such we have no information to provide in relation to the questions
that you have submitted.

I hope that this information is clear and answers your request in full. If
you are unhappy with any aspect of this response, an independent senior
officer will review this decision. Please let me know if you would like to
arrange this.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner, who is the
regulator for Freedom of Information. His website is [1]www.ico.gov.uk,
and his helpline number is 08456 30 60 60. His staff may ask you to
exhaust our internal complaints procedure if you choose to complain to his
office now.

Should you require any additional information or assistance please do not
hesitate to contact me on the details shown.

Lee Gardiner
Corporate Records Manager
Business Support Services
Legal & Democratic Division
Wigan Council

Tel: 8427 (01942 488427)
[mobile number]
Fax: 2093 (01942 827093)
Email: [email address]

Town Hall, Library Street, Wigan, WN1 1YN

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