CHILDREN’S Minister Beverley Hughes is being asked to step in over the record number of vulnerable children being "dumped" in Thanet.

A report commissioned by the Kent Child Protection Committee has found that one in four of all children in care in Kent are being housed in Thanet, mainly in Cliftonville West ward, which has several privately run children’s homes.

The majority of children have been placed by local authorities from outside the county, prompting Kent County Council and North Thanet MP Roger Gale to seek an urgent review.

Figures for the last three years show that at any one time there are more children in other local authority care placed in Thanet than there are in the care of the whole of Kent Social Services.

Mr Gale said: "In spite of the best efforts of Thanet District Council and of the local constabulary, the strains generated through anti-social behaviour, lack of primary and secondary education places, demands upon primary and hospital health care facilities, and our social services, have become intolerable."

Committee chairman Oliver Mills said: "The problem arises because once children’s homes are licensed, other authorities do not need to go through KCC to place a child.

"They deal direct with the home or fostering agency, so there is no chance for Kent to say no. KCC’s protocol is that children should only be placed out of their home environment in the very exceptional circumstances where it is genuinely in their own interests.

"Some of society’s most vulnerable children are being moved to an area more than 50 miles from their home, which has more than its own share of problems and is therefore least able to cope." Although the issue has been under discussion for several years, a number of specific incidents last year sparked the report.

It found that although there is a link between the number of "looked-after" children and higher crime, the greatest impact is on the children themselves.

Supt Penny Martin, of Thanet Police said: "There are also a high number of incidents of these children going missing.

More than 200 children from other local authorities were reported missing in nine months last year, which pulls on our resources."

The report recommends changes, including charging outside authorities to place their children in Thanet, more consultation with other local authorities, and setting strict targets on the number of children who can be placed outside their own authority.

More than 50 organizations, including children’s and mental health charities, are being asked to respond to the report.

They have been given a three-month deadline to react, and begin instituting changes.