It’s vital we protect EU children in care from an uncertain future brought about by Brexit

It’s hard to imagine what life is like for a child in care, but we know that many will have been through some truly harrowing ordeals before being taken into care. Looked-after children are some of the most vulnerable in society. They are likely to have experienced neglect, abuse, abandonment or some other difficult circumstance that means it is no longer safe for them to stay with their parents.

In that situation, children are placed in the care of the state and their local authority becomes the “corporate parent”. They are assigned a social worker whose job it is to support and safeguard that child. This entails a multitude of responsibilities – if the child in their care is originally from the EU, EEA or is a Swiss national or has European parents, since March 2019 one more important job has been added to the list.

When the UK decided to leave the EU, so too did it call time on freedom of movement. This means every European citizen, including children, who wish to continue to live and work in the UK has to apply for status through the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS). 

More than 3.7 million have already done so. Most under-18s will rely on their parents to make the applications, but for children in care this job now falls to their social worker.

This is without doubt a huge additional ask of already overstretched social workers up and down the country. This leaves a vulnerable group of children at risk of a future that is undocumented and full of more uncertainty. That is why we have tabled amendments to the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill in the House of Commons, and now in the Lords, which are focused on these uniquely vulnerable children and young people. 

The amendments seek to fast-track them through the EU Settlement Scheme in order to grant them settled status. For those eligible for citizenship, local authorities should work to secure this for them as a priority. Such an amendment would not preclude children from securing citizenship but provide a safeguard if and where a local authority cannot support a child to secure citizenship before the deadline.

It is unclear how many children are in this position. A recent survey by the Home Office suggests we are talking about 5,000 young people, though their 2019 estimate put it at around 9,000 – of which 5,000 were still in care and a further 4,000 were care leavers, those who are now over-18 and have left care. While we await further clarity on the numbers, what we do know is that the rate of application and those granted status is worryingly low.  

In January 2020, The Children’s Society issued a Freedom of Information request to all 211 local authorities asking how many EU/EEA or Swiss looked after children and care leavers were in their care. 153 councils responded and from that 3,612 children were identified, just 40 per cent of the government estimate and of these, only 11 per cent had been awarded status.

Parliamentarians across parties and houses have raised concerns around the application rate for vulnerable children at every stage of this bill and since the inception of the EUSS, yet the government has thus far failed to offer a serious solution.

Instead they have dismissed the amendments tabled, or sought to reassure parliamentarians that further action to secure the immigration status of these children does not need to be taken now. They claim children in care will be protected because they will be eligible to apply past the EUSS deadline in June 2021. This is not a safeguard. This is acceptance that some of our most vulnerable children and young people will become undocumented, placing their futures and life chances in jeopardy.

Without a legal immigration status, they are left facing all the issues that come with it. They will struggle to access education, find employment, claim benefits, healthcare and may even risk being deported.  

For children who have already faced so much adversity in their young lives, this is not a viable option. Don’t we owe it to these children to secure their immigration status now and to ensure they can transition into adulthood without running into difficulties at the first hurdle? They are already in the UK legally and will not add to numbers. Without this simple acknowledgement of their status, they risk becoming the next Windrush casualties.

Parliament has a proud record of standing up for children in care and care leavers. The government will be presented with an opportunity to do the right thing at the report stage of the bill today. We urge them to take it in the interests of children who cannot afford any more uncertainty in their lives.

Lord Alf Dubs is a refugee campaigner who sits in the House of Lords, and Tim Loughton is the Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham