The High Court has today handed down the final judgment in the ECPAT / Kent County Council judicial review. The Court confirmed that there should be no further relief in this litigation, and that the Court’s ongoing supervision of the lawfulness of the conduct of Kent County Council and the Home Secretary should now be brought to an end. The judgment confirms that Kent County Council is under a duty to accommodate newly arriving UAS children arriving on small boats in Kent, and that non compliance with that duty is not justified or excused by resource constraints of any kind. The judgment also confirms that the use of hotels to accommodate UAS children has ceased, and that the Government has funded Kent County Council to provide accommodation for newly arriving UAS children, pending any transfer to other local authorities under the National Transfer Scheme.
The judgment is available here.
Joanne Clement KC appeared for the Secretary of State for the Home Department and the Secretary of State for Education (leading Jack Anderson and Alex Cisneros).
