Figures reveal that Kent County Council have spent almost £30,000 on providing driving lessons for children granted asylum to live in Kent during the past three years.
The support provided by Kent County Council to youngsters after arriving in the county seeking asylum has increased almost six-fold over this time.
In the 2024/25 financial year, £20,143.86 has been spent to help unaccompanied asylum seeking (UAS) children gain their driving licence – either through paying for lessons or tests.
This amount has gone up from £3,567.74 in 2022/23 and then £5,028.50 in the following financial year. The county council says the funding is provided by central government and only once a person’s refugee status and asylum cases are confirmed.
A KCC spokesperson said: “Under immigration law, KCC is responsible for the care of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UAS Children) arriving in Kent, in line with the Children’s Act 1989. UAS Children make up a small proportion of all asylum seekers.
“The courts have been very clear that we cannot treat UAS Children differently from other looked after children, and that they are entitled to the same support as every other child in care nationally.”
Critics have slammed the spending as ‘outrageous’ and completely unnecessary. They say that KCC does not pay for driving lessons for their children, so why should UAS children be treated any different.
The problems seem to stem from the lawmakers themselves, rather than those who are told to just follow the law.
