The Children's Commissioner's findings and recommendations regarding the care of unaccompanied asylum seeking children in the London Borough of Hillingdon

Publishers 11 Million Document authors Commissioner Office Of The Children's Zones UK Type Report / Study / Data Date of publication 2008 Document main thematic Child Trafficking Total pages 40

This research has exposed the difficulty that the Children’s Commissioner faces in exercising his statutory powers under the Children Act 2004, and promoting awareness of the interests of this particularly vulnerable group of children. The findings of non-compliance with legislation put in place to protect children who are in the care of the local authority raise very considerable concerns. It is to be hoped that the Children and Young Persons Bill, currently before Parliament, will address some of the key issues raised in this report. Whilst resources inevitably have an impact on the culture of service delivery, local authorities are nevertheless under a statutory duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in their care. The best interests of children are the paramount consideration, and practices that do not operate with this principle at heart need to be confronted and changed.