I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information:
UASC Personnel within the organisation

1. How many Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children and Young People (UASC) are in your Local Authority’s care as of 10th October 2022? 33
a) On the above numbers, how many are aged under 12, 13-15 and 16-17?
• Age under 12 = 1
• Age 13-15 = 10
• Age 16-17 = 22

2. How many UASC were in your Local Authority care on the financial years ending:
a) 31 March 2021: 9 – excluding care leavers
b) 31 March 2020: 7 – excluding care leavers
c) 31 March 2019: 6 – excluding care leavers

3. Do you have a team/s that solely manage UASC cases? No
a) If yes, could you outline the Team Structure and where it sits within the organisation? For example, 1 Team comprises 1 Team Manager, 2 Senior Social Workers and 2 Social Workers.
b) If no, is there a reason as to why?
No. Our UASC population are supported by our Children In Care team which holds responsibility for all children in care – both citizen children and UASC. The reason is due to the relatively small numbers of UASC supported by the local authority.

4. Please supply the Job Descriptions of the workers who manage UASC cases? E.g. Social Worker, Senior Social Worker, Assistant Team Manager and Team Manager.
Attached are the generic job descriptions for Here 4 U:
For context:
The TM Job Spec was last updated in September 2021
The ATM Job Spec was last updated December 2020
The SW Job Spec was updated May 2022

Age Assessments
5. How many age assessments have the Local Authority conducted on the financial years ending:
a) 31 March 2021
b) 31 March 2020
c) 31 March 2019
We do not collate the data so would need to review all of our UASC manually to ascertain that data. This would take more than the remaining 13 hours left to complete (33 files x 30 minutes).

6. Does the Local Authority’s Social Workers complete the age assessments? Yes
If not, who does? Not applicable

7. How many of the above age assessments resulted in the person to be:
a) Under 18: 100%
i. 31 March 2021
ii. 31 March 2020
iii. 31 March 2019
b) 18 or over: 0
i. 31 March 2021
ii. 31 March 2020
iii. 31 March 2019

8. Were any of the above age assessment challenged by a way of Judicial Proceedings? No
a) If so, how many are active?
b) How many have concluded?
i. Out of the above number, how many resulted in the Local Authority’s favour?

9. Please provide a copy of all templates used for competing an age assessment. For example, some local authorities complete shorten version of an age assessment, brief enquiries, or welfare visits. Attached:
Proforma and Guidance
Age Assessment Guidance
Blank Information Sharing Protocol

10. Do you have a policy or practice guidance for staff on the age assessment process?
We follow the ADCS guidance
a) If yes, please provide a copy:
https://adcs.org.uk/assets/documentation/Age_Assessment_Guidance_2015_Final.pdf

Social Work Practice
11. What is the process when the Local Authority received a referral of an UASC in your area?
Referral is passed directly to the children in care team who liaise with placements teams to identify a placement. Guidance is currently under review.
a) If you have guidance/policy, please provide a copy.
Attached:
Good Practice Handbook for all Professionals working with Unaccompanied Children and Young People V.1
b) Is the arrangement different on Out of Hours?
Out of hours will source placement and will pass across to us on the next working day for follow up.

12. Do you use social media checks at any point during the age assessment process? Not at present
a) If so, do you have a policy/guidance, please supply a copy. Not applicable

13. Could you provide a breakdown on the current UASC in your care on their placement type? For example, 23 in foster care, 21 in semi-independent 24/7 support, 33 in semi-independent non24/7 support.
Foster Care: 15
Semi-independent: 16
Z1: 2

14. Please provide copies of any policies, guidelines, or practice resources that are aimed at UASC?
As it stands, the only dedicated piece of guidance/policy on UASC that I am aware of is in our WBC Procedure Chapters:
Unaccompanied Migrant Children and Child Victims of Trafficking and Modern Slavery
And there is an accompanying chapter in our Berkshire West Safeguarding Children Partnership manual:
Children from Abroad, including Victims of Modern Slavery, Trafficking and Exploitation (proceduresonline.com)