Kent County Council

Asylum and Migration · drafted 2026-07-02 · accepted · 4 finding(s)

← council-level findings on this theme

18 Sep 2025At the 18 September 2025 Kent County Council meeting, the Leader's report recorded that she had written to the Home Secretary asking to be consulted early and given transparency before any new migrant accommodation sites are identified in Kent, and had separately written to all 12 Kent district/borough leaders asking for details of migrant accommodation in their areas, after flagging Dover, Manston and Napier Barracks as known sites plus a concern that further hotels or HMOs could be in use unannounced; as of the meeting the Home Secretary had not replied. [1][2][3]

18 Nov 2025On 18 November 2025 Kent County Council's Children, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee heard that KCC's statutory Sufficiency Strategy — which covers placements for children in care, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) — needed to be revamped following a 2023 High Court judgment on UASC; officers framed this as a prevention- and in-house-provision-focused update to meet the statutory duty, not a decision to cap, pause or withdraw from UASC intake or the National Transfer Scheme. [4][5]

At the March 2026 Kent County Council meeting, Mr Wimble proposed and Mr Eustace seconded a motion declaring an 'Illegal Migration Emergency in Kent', which the Council carried unanimously (45 for, 0 against, 0 abstentions); it calls on the Leader to press the Government to stop small-boat arrivals and to fully fund the costs to the County Council and partner agencies of dealing with illegal migration, but the motion's text does not name asylum hotels or Home Office accommodation specifically. [6][7][8][9]

At the March 2026 Kent County Council meeting the Leader's report cited children's services cost pressures — including the cost of supporting former unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and the number of looked-after children placed in Kent by other authorities — as grounds for demanding a fairer long-term funding settlement from central government; this is a demand for more funding/support from the Home Office and other authorities, not a decision by Kent to limit its own UASC intake. [10]

References (10)
  1. Minutes, 18 September 2025 “Known accommodation sites in Kent included Dover, Manston, and Napier Barracks, and there may be other unknown hotels and houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).”
  2. Minutes, 18 September 2025 “The Leader had written to the Home Secretary requesting early consultation and transparency in identifying new sites in Kent but had not yet received a response.”
  3. Minutes, 18 September 2025 “Letters were also sent to all 12 Kent council leaders requesting information on migrant accommodation in their districts and boroughs.”
  4. Minutes, 18 November 2025 “Mrs Palmer introduced the decision explaining that it was a statutory requirement, which detailed how the service planned to address challenge of finding safe and suitable placements for children in care, on the edge of care and care leavers.”
  5. Minutes, 18 November 2025 “There was a need to revamp the strategy following the high court judgement on Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) in 2023.”
  6. Minutes “Mr Wimble proposed and Mr Eustace seconded the motion that: “Kent County Council declares an Illegal Migration Emergency in Kent.”
  7. Minutes “Therefore, the Council calls on the Leader of the Council to: a) Demand the Government stops the arrival of migrants by small boats immediately b) Seek to ensure that the Government provides full funding to cover the costs to the County Council and partner public agencies in dealing with the consequences of illegal migration”
  8. Minutes “For (45) Mr J Baker, Mr M Brown, Mr C Burwash, Mr A Cecil, Mr P Chamberlain”
  9. Minutes “Against (0) Abstain (0) Motion carried.”
  10. Minutes “The Leader highlighted the need for a fairer long-term funding settlement for Kent from Central Government. Pressures within children’s services were outlined, including support for former unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and the number of looked-after children placed in Kent by other authorities.”