EAST Renfrewshire Council will signal its intent to take in up to 14 asylum-seeking kids this week.

Bosses at the local authority are hoping to sign up to the UK Government’s national scheme for unaccompanied asylum-seeker children.

Most of the kids who have come to the UK as asylum-seekers without their parents have been presenting themselves for help in the south of England, meaning councils there have been responsible for supporting them.

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Government chiefs are hoping to disperse the children around the UK to ease pressure on the English authorities.

A report by East Renfrewshire’s chief social worker, Kate Rocks, said: “Services to look after children and young people in East Renfrewshire and across Scotland are already under significant pressure due to the needs of our existing population. 

“However, information from other local authorities in Scotland suggests that the presentation of need within the unaccompanied asylum child population is usually at a lower level than the indigenous population.

“The needs of eligible unaccompanied children and young people are likely to be different to the indigenous, looked-after population and services will need to reflect these needs, such as English language support and additional integration support within schools, further and higher education.”

All councils taking part in the scheme will be responsible for a maximum of asylum-seeking kids totalling 0.07% of their current child population.

For East Renfrewshire, that represents 14 child asylum-seekers.

The scheme is voluntary but the Home Office can force councils to participate under the Immigration Act 2016.

Children and young people who are part of the scheme will be given continuing care and aftercare support through the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, which will help support them into independent adulthood.

But if those children are not given permission to stay in the UK past the age of 18, local authorities will be required to withdraw support.

New carers with the specific remit of looking after those kids will be recruited by the local authority.

And the council will receive £41,610 per year for every child under the age of 16, with £33,215 for those aged 16 or 17 and £10,400 for those aged 18 or over who qualify for leaving carer support.

The money for the under-16s will go towards funding foster care, with those aged 16 and 17 having foster care and supported care paid for.

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Over-18s who are eligible to stay in the UK will have the majority of their supported care paid for, with a shortfall in specialised housing support.

A number of Syrian families have already been housed in the Barrhead area by council chiefs after fleeing their war-ravaged country.

Now elected members are expected to approve participation in the unaccompanied asylum-seeker children scheme at a meeting of the full council today.