Asylum Seeking Children
Asylum seeking children or separated migrant children are a very diverse group and are likely to present with a wide range of needs. Professionals must have a sound knowledge base and understanding to enable them to deliver a quality service to asylum seeking families with children or UASC.
1. Introduction
1.1 Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children / separated migrant children and trafficked children can be some of the most vulnerable children in the country. They are often alone, in an unfamiliar country and are likely to be surrounded by people who are unable to speak their first language.
1.2 They may have experienced trauma in their country of birth, or on their journey to the UK. They can be at increased risk of going missing and of modern slavery which includes human trafficking, slavery, servitude, and forced or compulsory labour. Exploitation can take a number of forms, including sexual exploitation, forced labour, forced criminality, begging, organ harvesting and domestic servitude.
1.3 Unaccompanied or separated children are likely to be uncertain or unaware of their rights and whom they should trust.
1.4 Local authorities have a duty to protect and support these highly vulnerable children. Because of the circumstances they have faced, unaccompanied or separated children often have complex needs in addition to those face by other children who are cared for by the local authority. The support required to address these needs must begin as soon as the child is referred to the local authority or is found in the local authority area.
2. Principles and Values
2.1 Some key principles and values that underpin practice in relation to unaccompanied or separated children are:
- They are children first and any intervention, by any agency, should be child centred.
- They should be treated as children in need unless the relevant enquiries indicate that this is not the case.
- Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of these children/young people must remain paramount for all agencies in their dealings with this group.
- Assessment of need must include a separate discussion with the child or young person in a setting where, as far as possible, they feel able to talk freely, using a suitably qualified interpreter.
- Any assessment of these children and young people should consider the background to their journey, their experiences and culture and in the context of arriving into an unfamiliar environment.
- Interrogation of the child or young person should be avoided.
- We will ensure that in all our work with we will aim to meet all their cultural, ethnic, and religious needs.
3. Spontaneous Arrivals – Operation Innerste
3.1 Most spontaneous arrivals of separated migrant children into Teesside are either found by the police or by Border Force agency. They are usually discovered in lorries from abroad which have stopped in the area or wandering in the area, having fled from the lorry when stationary or they have entered via our local port or airport.
3.2 They may also be found by police or Immigration Enforcement officers during operations; for example, to address illegal activity.
3.3 On all occasions where a separated migrant child is found in the Cleveland Police Force area they will be engaged with by Cleveland Police and the officer/s dealing will do this in the most appropriate and proportionate way to ensure that the child is safeguarded. This will include the use of Police protection powers, voluntary attendance, and/or arrest for illegal entry into the United Kingdom. They will be transported to the nearest, most appropriate police facility for the method they have been detained by.
3.4 Children’s Social Care will be notified of these children by Cleveland Police following the ethos of Operation Innerste (also referred to as the Hertfordshire Model).
3.5 Operation Innerste identifies that if the presenting asylum seeker is claiming to be a child (aged under 18 years), then the response to the separated migrant child by Cleveland Police and Stockton on Tees Social Care will be that of them being a potential victim of trafficking in the first instance.
3.6 All appropriate attempts to prevent the presenting child from being arrested and taken to a Police Station will be made (unless there are concerns or necessity to best protect and support the child). Cleveland Police and Children’s Social Care will work together to best respond to the child’s needs both at the time of presentation, and to ensure safeguarding action can be taken if future concerns of trafficking or going missing from care arise.
4. National Transfer Scheme - NTS
4.1 All North East local authorities participate in the mandated National Transfer Scheme (NTS). Children will be referred to local authorities in line with the scheme. The children referred via the NTS will be accommodated under S20 CA1989. The general principles and responsibilities set out in this document should also be followed so that these children can be best supported but all professionals working with these children will need to remain mindful that these children can be at heightened risk of going missing or significant harm if they have been trafficked into the UK or they are a victim of modern slavery.
5. Local authority statutory responsibilities
5.1 Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 places a general duty on every local authority to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need in their area by providing services appropriate to those children’s needs.
5.2 An unaccompanied or separated child will become looked after by the local authority after having been accommodated by the local authority under section 20(1) of the Children Act 1989 for 24 hours. This will mean that they will be entitled to the same local authority provision as any other looked after child. Assessment and care provisions for the child should commence immediately as for any looked after child, irrespective of whether an application (e.g. an asylum claim) has been submitted to the Home Office.
5.3 The Immigration Rules provide for an unaccompanied asylum seeking child to receive support from a legal representative in order to assist them in making their claim for protection. The local authority should ensure that the child has access to such a representative.
5.4 or unaccompanied children and for children trafficked into the UK, a number of immigration outcomes are possible depending on the individual case. It is therefore important to plan for different outcomes and what these may be, including return to an individual’s country of origin.
6. Age determination / Age assessments
6.1 The age of an individual arriving in the United Kingdom (UK) who is subject to immigration control is normally established from the documents with which they have travelled. However, many children and young people will not be able to provide a document as evidence of their age and some may not even know their own chronological age. This does not necessarily mean that their claimed age will not be accepted but does mean that a decision on whether to accept their claimed age needs to be made. This is to ensure the young person is treated age-appropriately, that they receive the necessary services and support, and is also important for safeguarding children. For example, if a child is wrongly treated as an adult, they will be deprived of the relevant children’s services owed to them, their asylum claim will be processed under adult procedures and, in rare circumstances, could be detained alongside adults, potentially breaching the strict legal limits on the detention of children. Conversely, if an adult is incorrectly treated as a child, this could result in them mixing freely with other children, such as within a foster family or at school.
6.2 In many cases there is insufficient reason to doubt an individual’s claimed age, but in some cases, there may be reasonable doubt that they are the age they claim (or are claimed) to be and it is considered necessary for an assessment of their age to be undertaken. This could be when there are doubts over an individual’s claim to be a child, or when their claim to be a child is accepted but they are believed to be a child of a different age than claimed.
6.3 This may require a lawful, careful, holistic social worker assessment of their age, traditionally known as a ‘Merton compliant’ age assessment, which must adhere to procedures set out by the courts. Where required, these assessments have historically been undertaken by local authorities to determine whether the individual is entitled to support under relevant children’s services legislation and are assigned significant weight by the Home Office when determining whether they should be treated as a child for immigration purposes. It should be noted however that in the absence of valid documentary evidence of age, there is no single age assessment technique or combination of techniques which can determine the precise chronological age of the child – this includes Merton compliant age assessments.
6.4 An individual could have their age disputed by the Home Office, usually at the point of claim for asylum, or by local authority children’s services departments after they have been approached for support under relevant children’s services.
6.5 Whether there is doubt over an individual’s age is not unchangeable. The young person’s journey to the UK can be long and traumatic with limited opportunities to manage their basic physical health and self-care needs. With good care and some recovery time, a young person’s physical appearance and demeanour can change within a relatively short period of time. As a consequence, it is not uncommon for a young person’s claimed age to be doubted immediately after their arrival in the UK, but shortly after, for there to be no good reasons to doubt their age. There could also be cases where there was not reasonable doubt that the individual is the age they claim (or are claimed) to be immediately after arrival, but then to have reasonable doubt at a later date.
6.6 A local authority needs to make a decision on age if:
- they need to know the age of an age-disputed person for the purposes of deciding whether or how to exercise any of its functions under relevant children’s legislation in relation to the young person
- the Home Office has notified the local authority in writing that it doubts that an age-disputed person in relation to whom the local authority has exercised or may exercise functions under relevant children’s legislation is the age that they claim to be
6.7 When a decision on age is required, the local authority must decide whether it is satisfied that the individual is the age they claim to be and if they are not satisfied, they must either:
- conduct an age assessment on the age-disputed person itself, or
- refer the age-disputed person to the National Age Assessment Board (NAAB) for an age assessment (in the event the local authority has been notified by the NAAB that the NAAB has sufficient capacity to accept the referral) The reality is that at the time of writing (July 2024), the NAAB is only resourced sufficiently well enough to work with a limited number of local authorities and none are in the North East
6.8 Regardless of whether the Home Office has or not doubted the young person’s age, the local authority must make its own decision on whether it is satisfied that the young person is the age they claim (or are claimed), or whether there is reasonable doubt over whether they are the age they claim (or are claimed) to be.
6.9 This is consistent with Care of unaccompanied migrant children and child victims of modern slavery: Statutory guidance for local authorities, issued by the Department for Education, which states that:
‘Age assessments should only be carried out where there is reason to doubt that the individual is the age they claim. Age assessments should not be a routine part of a local authority’s assessment of unaccompanied or trafficked children.’
6.10 Sometimes an informed decision on this cannot be made until the young person has been looked after by the local authority for a period of time – for example, to provide the local authority with sufficient opportunity to make an informed decision or to provide the young person with time to sufficiently physically recover from the journey to the UK. The individual’s journey to the UK can be long and traumatic with limited opportunities to manage their basic physical health and self-care needs. With good care and some recovery time, a young person’s physical appearance and demeanour can change within a relatively short period of time. As a consequence, it is not uncommon for a young person’s age to be doubted immediately after their arrival in the UK, but shortly after there may be no good reasons to doubt their age. In other cases, there could be insufficient reason to doubt an individual’s claimed age immediately after arrival, but then to have reasonable doubt that the individual is the age they claim (or are claimed) to be at a later date.
6.11 It should also be noted that local authorities often have an opportunity to observe a young person over a much longer period of time than the Home Office had when it initially made a decision to doubt the young person’s age. Furthermore, it is likely that the expertise local authorities have through working with children on a daily basis will put them in a better position than the Home Office immigration officials who encountered the young person on arrival, to determine whether or not there is reasonable doubt that the young person is the age they claim (or are claimed) to be.
7. Case law – age assessments
7.1 Much of the initial guidance was set out in a High Court case involving Merton Council (B v London Borough of Merton [2003] EWHC 1689 (Admin) (commonly known as ‘Merton’). Since this case, the courts have further developed their view on what they consider to be a lawful age assessment. Summaries of the cumulative principles of the case law are set out below. While the courts have identified relevant operating principles, they did not establish a checklist which must all be adhered to for all age assessments in order for those assessments to be Merton compliant.
7.2 What is required is such investigation as is reasonable on the facts of the case. Whilst an assessment that meets every point outlined in the case law is likely to be Merton compliant, this will not be necessary in every case. The assessing social workers must be able to demonstrate that it was reasonable to consider the factors that they did in relation to the specific facts of the case they were considering.
7.3 Social workers conducting Merton compliant age assessments should be properly trained and experienced, particularly in cases where the age of the young person ‘may objectively be borderline, between perhaps 16 and 20’, and therefore a more in-depth assessment of their age is necessary. Social workers completing such assessments are strongly encouraged to re-familiarise themselves with the relevant guidance, including this section of the NAAB guidelines.
8. Local authority decides to conduct an age assessment
8.1 When the local authority doubts that the age-disputed person is the age they claim to be and proceeds to conduct an age assessment, the local authority must notify the individual’s Home Office decision making unit by email of this decision to conduct an assessment (refer to Contact details for Home Office asylum decision making units for further information).
8.2 Once the age assessment has been conducted, the local authority should let the Home Office know the outcome. The minimum they must do is to complete and submit the age assessment information sharing pro forma or equivalent to the Home Office. The provision of the pro forma will enable the Home Office to take into account the age assessment when making its own decision on age for the purposes of exercising immigration functions. The pro forma contains instructional text on the information required by the Home Office to ensure that the age assessment is case law compliant. Refer to the Assessing age guidance document for further information on the how the Home Office considers and assigns weight to local authority Merton compliant age assessments.
9. Notifying the Home Office that an age assessment is not required
9.1 When the local authority is satisfied or does not have reasonable doubt that an age disputed person is the age they claim (or are claimed) to be and, as a consequence, an age assessment is not required (a decision under section 50(3)(c) of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022), they must inform the immigration or asylum decision making unit by email as soon as possible after the decision is made. This could entail written confirmation from the local authority that, after they have had a sufficient opportunity to observe the young person, it is in the professional opinion of the young person’s social worker there is not reasonable doubt that the young person is the age they claim to be. If requested by the Home Office, the local authority must provide the Home Office with evidence it reasonably requires for it to consider the local authority’s decision and make a decision on age for immigration purposes.
10. Good practice – preparation for asylum interviews
10.1 Social workers, personal advisers and their managers (and healthcare and educational professionals assessing those aspects of the care plan) should understand how the child’s experiences, vulnerabilities and immigration status may impact on children and also their assessment, care planning and delivery, and planning for the transition to adulthood.
10.2 In order to support unaccompanied or separated children, social workers’ knowledge of the asylum process should include an understanding of the Welfare Interview, Statement of Evidence Form, the purpose of the asylum case review, the importance of the substantive asylum interview, the different possible outcomes of the child’s asylum claim and how that impacts on care and pathway planning. Social workers should also have a broad understanding of the immigration system – for example, the immigration application process, different types of leave, making further leave to remain applications and the appeals process.
10.3 One of the most crucial aspects of the social worker’s role is accessing specialist asylum and/or immigration legal advice and representation for all unaccompanied or separated children and child victims of modern slavery. This specialist advice will be required to ensure the child can fully present their case for asylum or leave to remain.
10.4 Legal advice about immigration must be provided by a registered immigration adviser, who is either a regulated solicitor or registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) to provide immigration advice to the relevant level. For example, the advise on issues such as asylum applications, out-of-time applications for leave to remain or applications for citizenship, the adviser would need to be competent to provide advice at OISC level 2. Ideally, the advisor would specialise in working with children as well. It is important to note that legal aid is available for asylum cases and children in our care will generally be eligible.
10.5 Social workers will be approached by the Home Office to participate in a case review, which is intended to explain the asylum process, ensure the child has immigration legal representation, check progress in completing the Statement of Evidence Form (SEF) and confirm that the child is ready to be interviewed. Social workers will be asked to complete the Current Circumstances Form – Part 1. This form provides an opportunity for the social worker to offer information they believe the Home Office should take into account before a decision is taken on the child’s asylum claim. In some cases, the social worker may be asked to complete the Current Circumstances Form – Part 2. These forms are normally used where a child has been refused asylum and the Home Office is considering returning the child to their home country. This form provides the social worker with an opportunity to contribute any information that may be relevant about the child and the proposed return to their home country.
10.6 The Home Office is under a duty to take account of the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in carrying out its asylum functions. These process are therefore intended to create opportunities for those working with unaccompanied or separated children to be able to provide information about the child, which may be relevant to their asylum decision.
11. Further Guidance
- Age Assessment Guidance - ADCS
- Assessing Age - Version 8 - Home Office (Nov 2024)
- The National Age Assessment Board
- Care of unaccompanied migrant children and child victims of modern slavery - Statutory guidance for local authorities
- Children's asylum claims - Home Office Guidance v4 (December 2020)
- Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner
1. Introduction
1.1 Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children / separated migrant children and trafficked children can be some of the most vulnerable children in the country. They are often alone, in an unfamiliar country and are likely to be surrounded by people who are unable to speak their first language.
1.2 They may have experienced trauma in their country of birth, or on their journey to the UK. They can be at increased risk of going missing and of modern slavery which includes human trafficking, slavery, servitude, and forced or compulsory labour. Exploitation can take a number of forms, including sexual exploitation, forced labour, forced criminality, begging, organ harvesting and domestic servitude.
1.3 Unaccompanied or separated children are likely to be uncertain or unaware of their rights and whom they should trust.
1.4 Local authorities have a duty to protect and support these highly vulnerable children. Because of the circumstances they have faced, unaccompanied or separated children often have complex needs in addition to those face by other children who are cared for by the local authority. The support required to address these needs must begin as soon as the child is referred to the local authority or is found in the local authority area.
2. Principles and Values
2.1 Some key principles and values that underpin practice in relation to unaccompanied or separated children are:
- They are children first and any intervention, by any agency, should be child centred.
- They should be treated as children in need unless the relevant enquiries indicate that this is not the case.
- Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of these children/young people must remain paramount for all agencies in their dealings with this group.
- Assessment of need must include a separate discussion with the child or young person in a setting where, as far as possible, they feel able to talk freely, using a suitably qualified interpreter.
- Any assessment of these children and young people should consider the background to their journey, their experiences and culture and in the context of arriving into an unfamiliar environment.
- Interrogation of the child or young person should be avoided.
- We will ensure that in all our work with we will aim to meet all their cultural, ethnic, and religious needs.
3. Spontaneous Arrivals – Operation Innerste
3.1 Most spontaneous arrivals of separated migrant children into Teesside are either found by the police or by Border Force agency. They are usually discovered in lorries from abroad which have stopped in the area or wandering in the area, having fled from the lorry when stationary or they have entered via our local port or airport.
3.2 They may also be found by police or Immigration Enforcement officers during operations; for example, to address illegal activity.
3.3 On all occasions where a separated migrant child is found in the Cleveland Police Force area they will be engaged with by Cleveland Police and the officer/s dealing will do this in the most appropriate and proportionate way to ensure that the child is safeguarded. This will include the use of Police protection powers, voluntary attendance, and/or arrest for illegal entry into the United Kingdom. They will be transported to the nearest, most appropriate police facility for the method they have been detained by.
3.4 Children’s Social Care will be notified of these children by Cleveland Police following the ethos of Operation Innerste (also referred to as the Hertfordshire Model).
3.5 Operation Innerste identifies that if the presenting asylum seeker is claiming to be a child (aged under 18 years), then the response to the separated migrant child by Cleveland Police and Stockton on Tees Social Care will be that of them being a potential victim of trafficking in the first instance.
3.6 All appropriate attempts to prevent the presenting child from being arrested and taken to a Police Station will be made (unless there are concerns or necessity to best protect and support the child). Cleveland Police and Children’s Social Care will work together to best respond to the child’s needs both at the time of presentation, and to ensure safeguarding action can be taken if future concerns of trafficking or going missing from care arise.
4. National Transfer Scheme - NTS
4.1 All North East local authorities participate in the mandated National Transfer Scheme (NTS). Children will be referred to local authorities in line with the scheme. The children referred via the NTS will be accommodated under S20 CA1989. The general principles and responsibilities set out in this document should also be followed so that these children can be best supported but all professionals working with these children will need to remain mindful that these children can be at heightened risk of going missing or significant harm if they have been trafficked into the UK or they are a victim of modern slavery.
5. Local authority statutory responsibilities
5.1 Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 places a general duty on every local authority to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need in their area by providing services appropriate to those children’s needs.
5.2 An unaccompanied or separated child will become looked after by the local authority after having been accommodated by the local authority under section 20(1) of the Children Act 1989 for 24 hours. This will mean that they will be entitled to the same local authority provision as any other looked after child. Assessment and care provisions for the child should commence immediately as for any looked after child, irrespective of whether an application (e.g. an asylum claim) has been submitted to the Home Office.
5.3 The Immigration Rules provide for an unaccompanied asylum seeking child to receive support from a legal representative in order to assist them in making their claim for protection. The local authority should ensure that the child has access to such a representative.
5.4 or unaccompanied children and for children trafficked into the UK, a number of immigration outcomes are possible depending on the individual case. It is therefore important to plan for different outcomes and what these may be, including return to an individual’s country of origin.
6. Age determination / Age assessments
6.1 The age of an individual arriving in the United Kingdom (UK) who is subject to immigration control is normally established from the documents with which they have travelled. However, many children and young people will not be able to provide a document as evidence of their age and some may not even know their own chronological age. This does not necessarily mean that their claimed age will not be accepted but does mean that a decision on whether to accept their claimed age needs to be made. This is to ensure the young person is treated age-appropriately, that they receive the necessary services and support, and is also important for safeguarding children. For example, if a child is wrongly treated as an adult, they will be deprived of the relevant children’s services owed to them, their asylum claim will be processed under adult procedures and, in rare circumstances, could be detained alongside adults, potentially breaching the strict legal limits on the detention of children. Conversely, if an adult is incorrectly treated as a child, this could result in them mixing freely with other children, such as within a foster family or at school.
6.2 In many cases there is insufficient reason to doubt an individual’s claimed age, but in some cases, there may be reasonable doubt that they are the age they claim (or are claimed) to be and it is considered necessary for an assessment of their age to be undertaken. This could be when there are doubts over an individual’s claim to be a child, or when their claim to be a child is accepted but they are believed to be a child of a different age than claimed.
6.3 This may require a lawful, careful, holistic social worker assessment of their age, traditionally known as a ‘Merton compliant’ age assessment, which must adhere to procedures set out by the courts. Where required, these assessments have historically been undertaken by local authorities to determine whether the individual is entitled to support under relevant children’s services legislation and are assigned significant weight by the Home Office when determining whether they should be treated as a child for immigration purposes. It should be noted however that in the absence of valid documentary evidence of age, there is no single age assessment technique or combination of techniques which can determine the precise chronological age of the child – this includes Merton compliant age assessments.
6.4 An individual could have their age disputed by the Home Office, usually at the point of claim for asylum, or by local authority children’s services departments after they have been approached for support under relevant children’s services.
6.5 Whether there is doubt over an individual’s age is not unchangeable. The young person’s journey to the UK can be long and traumatic with limited opportunities to manage their basic physical health and self-care needs. With good care and some recovery time, a young person’s physical appearance and demeanour can change within a relatively short period of time. As a consequence, it is not uncommon for a young person’s claimed age to be doubted immediately after their arrival in the UK, but shortly after, for there to be no good reasons to doubt their age. There could also be cases where there was not reasonable doubt that the individual is the age they claim (or are claimed) to be immediately after arrival, but then to have reasonable doubt at a later date.
6.6 A local authority needs to make a decision on age if:
- they need to know the age of an age-disputed person for the purposes of deciding whether or how to exercise any of its functions under relevant children’s legislation in relation to the young person
- the Home Office has notified the local authority in writing that it doubts that an age-disputed person in relation to whom the local authority has exercised or may exercise functions under relevant children’s legislation is the age that they claim to be
6.7 When a decision on age is required, the local authority must decide whether it is satisfied that the individual is the age they claim to be and if they are not satisfied, they must either:
- conduct an age assessment on the age-disputed person itself, or
- refer the age-disputed person to the National Age Assessment Board (NAAB) for an age assessment (in the event the local authority has been notified by the NAAB that the NAAB has sufficient capacity to accept the referral) The reality is that at the time of writing (July 2024), the NAAB is only resourced sufficiently well enough to work with a limited number of local authorities and none are in the North East
6.8 Regardless of whether the Home Office has or not doubted the young person’s age, the local authority must make its own decision on whether it is satisfied that the young person is the age they claim (or are claimed), or whether there is reasonable doubt over whether they are the age they claim (or are claimed) to be.
6.9 This is consistent with Care of unaccompanied migrant children and child victims of modern slavery: Statutory guidance for local authorities, issued by the Department for Education, which states that:
‘Age assessments should only be carried out where there is reason to doubt that the individual is the age they claim. Age assessments should not be a routine part of a local authority’s assessment of unaccompanied or trafficked children.’
6.10 Sometimes an informed decision on this cannot be made until the young person has been looked after by the local authority for a period of time – for example, to provide the local authority with sufficient opportunity to make an informed decision or to provide the young person with time to sufficiently physically recover from the journey to the UK. The individual’s journey to the UK can be long and traumatic with limited opportunities to manage their basic physical health and self-care needs. With good care and some recovery time, a young person’s physical appearance and demeanour can change within a relatively short period of time. As a consequence, it is not uncommon for a young person’s age to be doubted immediately after their arrival in the UK, but shortly after there may be no good reasons to doubt their age. In other cases, there could be insufficient reason to doubt an individual’s claimed age immediately after arrival, but then to have reasonable doubt that the individual is the age they claim (or are claimed) to be at a later date.
6.11 It should also be noted that local authorities often have an opportunity to observe a young person over a much longer period of time than the Home Office had when it initially made a decision to doubt the young person’s age. Furthermore, it is likely that the expertise local authorities have through working with children on a daily basis will put them in a better position than the Home Office immigration officials who encountered the young person on arrival, to determine whether or not there is reasonable doubt that the young person is the age they claim (or are claimed) to be.
7. Case law – age assessments
7.1 Much of the initial guidance was set out in a High Court case involving Merton Council (B v London Borough of Merton [2003] EWHC 1689 (Admin) (commonly known as ‘Merton’). Since this case, the courts have further developed their view on what they consider to be a lawful age assessment. Summaries of the cumulative principles of the case law are set out below. While the courts have identified relevant operating principles, they did not establish a checklist which must all be adhered to for all age assessments in order for those assessments to be Merton compliant.
7.2 What is required is such investigation as is reasonable on the facts of the case. Whilst an assessment that meets every point outlined in the case law is likely to be Merton compliant, this will not be necessary in every case. The assessing social workers must be able to demonstrate that it was reasonable to consider the factors that they did in relation to the specific facts of the case they were considering.
7.3 Social workers conducting Merton compliant age assessments should be properly trained and experienced, particularly in cases where the age of the young person ‘may objectively be borderline, between perhaps 16 and 20’, and therefore a more in-depth assessment of their age is necessary. Social workers completing such assessments are strongly encouraged to re-familiarise themselves with the relevant guidance, including this section of the NAAB guidelines.
8. Local authority decides to conduct an age assessment
8.1 When the local authority doubts that the age-disputed person is the age they claim to be and proceeds to conduct an age assessment, the local authority must notify the individual’s Home Office decision making unit by email of this decision to conduct an assessment (refer to Contact details for Home Office asylum decision making units for further information).
8.2 Once the age assessment has been conducted, the local authority should let the Home Office know the outcome. The minimum they must do is to complete and submit the age assessment information sharing pro forma or equivalent to the Home Office. The provision of the pro forma will enable the Home Office to take into account the age assessment when making its own decision on age for the purposes of exercising immigration functions. The pro forma contains instructional text on the information required by the Home Office to ensure that the age assessment is case law compliant. Refer to the Assessing age guidance document for further information on the how the Home Office considers and assigns weight to local authority Merton compliant age assessments.
9. Notifying the Home Office that an age assessment is not required
9.1 When the local authority is satisfied or does not have reasonable doubt that an age disputed person is the age they claim (or are claimed) to be and, as a consequence, an age assessment is not required (a decision under section 50(3)(c) of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022), they must inform the immigration or asylum decision making unit by email as soon as possible after the decision is made. This could entail written confirmation from the local authority that, after they have had a sufficient opportunity to observe the young person, it is in the professional opinion of the young person’s social worker there is not reasonable doubt that the young person is the age they claim to be. If requested by the Home Office, the local authority must provide the Home Office with evidence it reasonably requires for it to consider the local authority’s decision and make a decision on age for immigration purposes.
10. Good practice – preparation for asylum interviews
10.1 Social workers, personal advisers and their managers (and healthcare and educational professionals assessing those aspects of the care plan) should understand how the child’s experiences, vulnerabilities and immigration status may impact on children and also their assessment, care planning and delivery, and planning for the transition to adulthood.
10.2 In order to support unaccompanied or separated children, social workers’ knowledge of the asylum process should include an understanding of the Welfare Interview, Statement of Evidence Form, the purpose of the asylum case review, the importance of the substantive asylum interview, the different possible outcomes of the child’s asylum claim and how that impacts on care and pathway planning. Social workers should also have a broad understanding of the immigration system – for example, the immigration application process, different types of leave, making further leave to remain applications and the appeals process.
10.3 One of the most crucial aspects of the social worker’s role is accessing specialist asylum and/or immigration legal advice and representation for all unaccompanied or separated children and child victims of modern slavery. This specialist advice will be required to ensure the child can fully present their case for asylum or leave to remain.
10.4 Legal advice about immigration must be provided by a registered immigration adviser, who is either a regulated solicitor or registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) to provide immigration advice to the relevant level. For example, the advise on issues such as asylum applications, out-of-time applications for leave to remain or applications for citizenship, the adviser would need to be competent to provide advice at OISC level 2. Ideally, the advisor would specialise in working with children as well. It is important to note that legal aid is available for asylum cases and children in our care will generally be eligible.
10.5 Social workers will be approached by the Home Office to participate in a case review, which is intended to explain the asylum process, ensure the child has immigration legal representation, check progress in completing the Statement of Evidence Form (SEF) and confirm that the child is ready to be interviewed. Social workers will be asked to complete the Current Circumstances Form – Part 1. This form provides an opportunity for the social worker to offer information they believe the Home Office should take into account before a decision is taken on the child’s asylum claim. In some cases, the social worker may be asked to complete the Current Circumstances Form – Part 2. These forms are normally used where a child has been refused asylum and the Home Office is considering returning the child to their home country. This form provides the social worker with an opportunity to contribute any information that may be relevant about the child and the proposed return to their home country.
10.6 The Home Office is under a duty to take account of the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in carrying out its asylum functions. These process are therefore intended to create opportunities for those working with unaccompanied or separated children to be able to provide information about the child, which may be relevant to their asylum decision.
11. Further Guidance
- Age Assessment Guidance - ADCS
- Assessing Age - Version 8 - Home Office (Nov 2024)
- The National Age Assessment Board
- Care of unaccompanied migrant children and child victims of modern slavery - Statutory guidance for local authorities
- Children's asylum claims - Home Office Guidance v4 (December 2020)
- Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner