§ Ms. HoeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will consider providing special funding for the local authorities caring for unaccompanied refugee children.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyWe recognise that the cost of caring for these children bears heavily on a small number of local authorities. The authorities concerned are mostly in London where the standard spending assessments are higher than the national average because they face additional pressures such as this. For 1992–93 the children's personal social services standard spending assessment for London is over twice the national average and that for Inner London nearly four times the national average. It is for the authorities themselves to make their own decisions on priorities for local services.