Deputy Leader and Executive Councillor for Children's Services, Prue Bray, approved Wokingham Borough Council's response to a Home Office consultation on reforming asylum support and enforcing family returns. The council's response raised concerns about the potential negative impacts on local authority services and safeguarding responsibilities.

Home Office Consultation Response: Family Returns

The meeting focused on Wokingham Borough Council's (WBC) response to the Home Office consultation, Family Returns: Reforming Asylum Support and Enforcing Family Returns. The consultation proposed significant changes to the support provided to asylum-seeking families whose appeals have been exhausted, aiming to limit existing support and restrict circumstances under which local authorities can provide assistance, with the ultimate goal of facilitating removals.

Deputy Leader and Executive Councillor for Children's Services, Prue Bray, reviewed and approved WBC's position in response to the consultation. The council's response highlighted several key concerns:

• Increased Safeguarding Pressures: The proposed reforms risk placing significant additional safeguarding pressures and demand on already stretched local authority services, without clear indications of corresponding funding or resource allocation.
• Destitution and Unfunded Demand: The repeal of Section 4 support and the introduction of a restrictive Section 95A scheme are likely to increase destitution and displace unmet needs onto councils, creating unfunded pressures across children's services, housing, and safeguarding.
• Conflict with Statutory Duties: Proposals to narrowly define support eligibility based on immigration criteria, rather than child welfare, would conflict with statutory duties under the Children Act 1989. This would require Children's Services to prioritise immigration control over professional judgement and the principle that a child's best interests should be the primary consideration.
• Blurring of Responsibilities: The consultation risks blurring the lines between social work safeguarding responsibilities and immigration enforcement. This could damage trust with vulnerable families, leading to disengagement and potentially pushing families underground, thereby increasing the risk of exploitation.
• Impact on Care Leavers: Reforms affecting adult care leavers were also a concern, potentially undermining core corporate parenting safeguards by shifting focus from stability and long-term outcomes to immigration status. This could lead to abrupt changes in support, increasing risks of homelessness, exploitation, and poor mental health, and exposing councils to additional legal risks and unfunded duties.

Councillor Bray expressed strong reservations about the consultation's direction, stating, My main concern about this is that it puts immigration enforcement ahead of child protection and councils. And that goes against everything that's in the Children's Act. She noted that immigration figures have fallen significantly, and the proposed measures seemed to be a response to a perceived problem that is not reflected in the data. Councillor Bray emphasised the council's commitment to creating a community where everybody feels that wanted and protected and given a opportunity. ¹

The decision to approve WBC's response was made by Councillor Prue Bray, with the Director of Children's Services, Emma Cockerell, responsible for actioning it. The decision was published on 26 May 2026 and became effective on 3 June 2026, with a call-in period expiring on 2 June 2026.