Responding to the news that the government is making the National Transfer Scheme for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children mandatory, Cllr Georgia Gould, Chair of London Councils, said:
"We welcome the decision to make the national transfer scheme mandatory to create more capacity for councils to do this crucial work, which is something London Councils has long been calling for.
“London boroughs are currently caring for around 1,500 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children - a third of the national total. These children enter the country having faced difficult and traumatic circumstances from a young age and need specialist support to make a fresh start.
“Boroughs believe that a mandatory national transfer scheme is an important first step in a different and fairer approach to responding to this national challenge and we look forward to working with government on this.”