£3m budget set aside for children seeking asylum

THE deputy leader of Derby City Council has welcomed more than £3million of Government funding to house and educate unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the city.

- By NIGEL SLATER

The council and other authorities receive an annual grant from the Home Office to ensure that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are cared for while their asylum claims are processed.

Councillor Paul Hezelgrave told a council meeting some of the children coming to Derby "may have had the ordeal of crossing the channel in those small boats".

The city council has been approached on how many "vulnerable" unaccompanied children seeking asylum are currently in Derby.

Last year nationally, there were more than 4,000 claims from unaccompanied children seeking asylum.

New figures show that 1,300 migrants (no ages specified) crossed the English Channel over the past week. It is reported that there have been more than 40,000 arrivals to the UK so far in 2025.