Age Assessment
How should the UK Border Agency (UKBA) be informed of the result of an age assessment carried out by a Children's Services Department?
It will be necessary to establish from the client whether or not they have already claimed asylum either at the port of entry or since arriving in the UK at one of the Asylum Screening Unit offices. In either case the client will be given documentation by the Immigration Service or UKBA indicating that the asylum claim has been lodged.
Where the client has not yet claimed asylum:
This situation is most likely to occur where a young person has entered the country unlawfully and been referred on to the local authority by another body such as the police. UKBA request that where the young person has sought help from a local authority prior to the asylum claim they are accompanied to the screening interview by the responsible social worker or by another responsible adult such as a legal representative. Where the responsible social worker can not accompany the child, a letter should be provided to the responsible adult accompanying the child stating:
- the child's address or an address through which the child can be reached;
- the name, address and telephone number of the responsible social worker;
- confirmation that the adult accompanying the child is doing so with the local children's authority's agreement.
[Note that for grant purposes, reimbursement for care costs will only start from the date that the asylum claim is lodged.]
Where the client has not yet claimed asylum but the children's services department, following an age assessment, concludes the person is not a child under part III of the Children Act 1989, they should refer the client to UKBA for support and accommodation. The young person should be given reasons why the local authority has concluded that they do not believe their stated age and an opportunity to challenge the assessment.
Where the client has already claimed asylum but has been disbelieved as to their age by the UKBA or Immigration Service:
An undocumented asylum seeker claiming to be a child may well have their age disputed by the UKBA when they lodge their asylum claim. Where this is the case, the Home Office will treat them as adults for the purposes of their asylum claim. This means that they are liable to detention in an immigration removal centre pending or following examination of their asylum claim or will be accommodated by UKBA rather than by a local authority.
Where the UKBA dispute the given age of a young person they should pass on the person's details to the Children's Panel of the Refugee Council. They normally issue the young person with a letter called an IS97M. [1]
Where the children's services department carries out an age assessment and concludes that the young person is a child (following an earlier determination by the UKBA that the person is an adult) they should contact the child's NAM Caseowner with their Home Office reference number to inform them. The UKBA can be contacted on 020 7035 4848. Please note that it is then UKBA's policy to accept a professional assessment of age made by a children's services department where this disagrees with their own assessment. The UKBA should be informed that a local authority does not accept the given age of a person referred to them by UKBA as a child.
Revised 29/04/08
Notes
[1] Previously the IS97M stated that the UKBA's own age determination "…does not prevent you from approaching the children's social services department in your area who may conduct a social work assessment. If the social worker's assessment is that you are a child and the Home Office is notified of this, the original age determination will be reviewed". This wording may no longer be current, but the right to approach a children's service authority remains.
