§ Ms KellyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children seeking asylum were placed in the care of local authorities in each of the last three years; and how many children seeking asylum are accommodated in care homes in(a) Britain, (b) each region and (c) Bolton. [142041]
§ Mr. HuttonFigures on the number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum (UASC) who were placed in the care of local authorities are not available for the year 1997–98. Only those local authorities spending in excess of 5 per cent. of their children's personal social services standard spending assessment were eligible to claim grant in this period. Figures for weeks commencing 2 April 139W 1999 and 31 March 2000 are set out in the table. Comparable figures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not available.
Claims for payment of the 1999–2000 UASC special grant were submitted by local authorities in February 2000 based on actual expenditure from 1 April 1999 to 28 January 2000 and estimated expenditure from 29 January 2000 to 31 March 2000. The numbers of unaccompanied children for week commencing 31 March 2000 are estimated and subject to final audit and adjustment. Figures are only available for local authorities that submitted claims for the 1999–2000 special grant.
In 1999–2000 there are no records of any unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Bolton and no claim for special grant was made by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council for this period.
Statistics showing the number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum accommodated in care homes are not held centrally.
140W
Local authority Total number of unaccompanied children at week commencing 2 April 1999 Total estimated number of unaccompanied children at week commencing 31 March 2000 Barking and Dagenham LB 170 166 Barnet LB 54 48 Bath and North East Somerset CC 0 1 Bedfordshire CC 1 35 Bexley LB 24 81 Birmingham CC 11 40 Brent LB 117 79 Brighton and Hove 0 7 Bristol CC 4 15 Bromley LB 33 31 Buckinghamshire CC 2 5 Bury 0 2 Camden LB 94 55 Cheshire CC 0 1 Cornwall 0 1 Corporation of London 0 1 Croydon LB 134 144 Darlington BC 0 1 Derby City C 0 1 Dorset CC 0 1 Dudley MB 3 2 Ealing LB 44 112 East Sussex CC 1 2 Enfield LB 15 62 Essex CC 19 25 Gateshead MBC 0 1 Gloucestershire CC 3 19 Greenwich LB 24 68 Hackney LB 35 55 Hammersmith and Fulham LB 123 157 Hampshire CC 1 6 Haringey LB 184 353 Harrow LB 24 49 Havering LB 3 60 Hertfordshire 8 65 Hillingdon LB 196 412 Hounslow LB 14 32 Islington LB 191 398 Kensington and Chelsea RB 74 113 Kent CC 112 712 Kirklees MBC 2 0 Kingston upon Hull CC 2 2 Kingston upon Thames RB 7 11 Lambeth LB 163 176 Lancashire CC 1 1 Leeds CC 1 3 Leicester CC 6 6
Local authority Total number of unaccompanied children at week commencing 2 April 1999 Total estimated number of unaccompanied children at week commencing 31 March 2000 Leicestershire CC 1 12 Lewisham LB 69 118 Lincolnshire CC 7 15 Liverpool CC 2 10 Medway CC 3 8 Merton LB 23 47 Milton Keynes MBC 0 2 Newcastle Upon Tyne 2 5 Newham LB 16 25 Norfolk CC 4 7 Northamptonshire CC 3 79 North East Lincolnshire 2 13 North Somerset CC 0 3 Nottingham CC 2 10 Nottinghamshire CC 2 6 Oxfordshire CC 20 40 Peterborough 0 2 Portsmouth CC 0 2 Redbridge LB 20 194 Redcar and Cleveland CC 2 4 Richmond Upon Thames 73 204 Rutland CC 0 1 Sandwell CC 4 4 Sheffield CC 5 13 Shropshire CC 2 0 Slough Borough C 2 5 Solihull CC 0 2 Somerset CC 0 2 South Gloucestershire 1 3 Southampton CC 0 5 Southend on Sea BC 4 14 Southwark LB 89 198 Staffordshire CC 18 15 Suffolk CC 1 18 Sunderland 0 1 Surrey CC 9 14 Sutton LB 15 58 Swindon BC 4 16 Thurrock CC 11 41 Tower Hamlets LB 8 13 Trafford MBC 0 1 Wakefield MDC 3 13 Walsall MBC 0 2 Waltham Forest LB 12 32 Wandsworth LB 38 33 Warrington BC 0 3 Warwickshire CC 14 20 West Sussex CC 39 77 Westminster CC 167 156 Wiltshire CC 0 3 Wolverhampton MBC 0 1 Worcestershire CC 0 6 Total 2,597 5,193