The following are the Questions we put to our Social Services Dept and the responses. Do we have enough and anyone want to hazard a guess as to the answer.
[b:9191a74dfb] Questions:[/b:9191a74dfb]
Background info –
XXXXXX came to this country from Albania 4 years ago.
XXXXXX is in XXXX Housing association accommodation. His tenancy commenced 2/5/2005.
His income is a Education Maintenance Allowance.
His other income is a living allowance (subsidy) from social services as he states he is an asylum seeker who is a care leaver. This is £70.70 per week.
He is a fulltime student studying at NVQ level. He has applied for JSA and on the information I have it appears that he has been refused job seekers allowance on the basis that he has not provided proof that he has recourse to public funds.
xxxxx turned 18 on 18/4/2006 on his signed statement with the Job Centre Plus on 17/7/2006 and his Housing Benefit claim forms he states he still receives the £70.70 per week from yourselves.
He was refused asylum status but given exceptional leave to remain from 28 June 2002 to 17 April 2006.* (expired*)
Please could you confirm the answers to the questions below.
1. What is his immigration status?
2. Please can you confirm what actions have been taken to resolve his underlying problem of his immigration status?
3. It looks like xxxxxxl has been supported by yourselves in the past and is still being supported. His rent account is upto date and you are still paying him subsidised living allowance. Is this correct? If not, please can you clarify when you ceased to support him.
4. Do you have a duty to support a care leaver?
Is he subject to section 6 of the children (leaving care) act 2000?
[b:9191a74dfb]
Answers[/b:9191a74dfb]
1. xxxxxx immigration status is that he was granted exceptional leave to remain until his 18th birthday as x’s e-mail states.
2. An application for extension of leave to remain was lodged via his solicitor prior to his 18th birthday in keeping with the Nationality, Asylum Act 2002. This should be successful as he has 4 years residency. If successful xxxxxxx status would automatically become indefinite leave to remain after a period of time which I seem to remember is 2 years.
Applications are currently taking up to 8 months to process.
3. We continue to support xxxxx but only to prevent destitution until such times as his benefits are processed which we believe he is entitled to. The monies paid cover his rent, Council Tax and living expenses.
4. Our duty to financially support young people ends at 18. The only payments we tend to make are in terms of ‘top-ups’ to other sources of income (which can be disregarded in relation to state benefits) such as payments for equipment if a young person is in an apprenticeship or education. These are designed to supplement and provide incentives to engagement and acheivement and apply to xxxxxxx in the same way as all other young care leavers.
Had xxxxx arrived after his 16th birthday he would have been entitled to claim State Benefits up to and beyond his 18th birthday.
The fact that he arrived in England when he was 14 meant that Social Services had a duty to accommodate and support him.
His entitlement to Benefits should, therefore, we understand be allowed unless he was denied leave to remain and the appeal process had been exhausted.
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