Social services chiefs have renewed their call for the government to compel other councils to take on the care of vulnerable asylum seeker children.

The call comes after it emerged that just 22 children who have arrived in the county had been placed elsewhere under the existing voluntary arrangements.

Kent County Council says the government should now take steps to move to a compulsory dispersal scheme to help ease the pressure on services.

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Cllr Peter Oakford (Con), KCC cabinet member for specialist children’s services, said: “We have been lobbying the government heavily for a dispersal scheme so that young people in Kent are spread more fairly so that they can get a higher level of support.

"That is based on the principle that if there are fewer in more local authorities, it would be easier to find school places and for help with English as a second language.”

“The only way other councils will participate in this programme is if it is mandatory" - Cllr Peter Oakford

He added: “Earlier this year, we thought things were moving forward, there were a number of meetings around the country and we attended a couple of meetings with the Home Office ourselves.

“There was a fanfare and local councils were asked to sign up and voluntarily take a number of children from Kent.

“Unfortunately, it had a very very slow start and now things have dried up. At this point, we have dispersed 22 young people around the country. Although the figures [for arrivals] are not the same as they were, we have had 60 migrant children arrive in the last four weeks.”

The county council has 1,114 vulnerable asylum children in care and had hoped the voluntary scheme would bring the number down to around 350.

Cllr Oakford said: “The only way other councils will participate in this programme is if it is mandatory. It is not a case of finances as the government has put in place a financial scheme to cover councils’ costs."

Council chiefs from outside Kent are today visiting the migrant camps in Calais.

They say that the needs of children who come to the UK need to be properly assessed before they arrive.

In December last year, the then Home Secretary Theresa May wrote to councils to tell them to offer KCC help and warned that a compulsory scheme could be introduced.