AN increase in child asylum seekers has contributed to a rise in the number of children in care.

A report to Bournemouth council's children's services scrutiny committee reveals that the number of children in care in the borough rose from 230 in October 2017 ­– the end of a three year decline – to reach 244 by the end of that year.

As of June the figure had risen to 247.

The report says "higher numbers of separated children seeking asylum" are one factor in the rise, which puts the council's rate of looked after children per population above the national average.

Similarly in Poole, "unaccompanied asylum seeker children" are thought to be the cause of an increase of 24 looked after children over a two year period.

The report states: "If this group are excluded from the total number of looked after children in Poole, there would be no increase at the end of the year and during 2017/18 there was a gradual reduction seen, affected by increased numbers in February and March 2018."

A separate report by the council's Independent Reviewing Officer Service, which will also be discussed at Thursday's scrutiny panel meeting at 6pm, contains up-to-date figures for June.

"The number of separated children seeking asylum, formally known as unaccompanied asylum seeking children, has increased in Bournemouth over the period, rising to 12 young people in July 2017 – equivalent of five per cent of the looked after children population," the report stats.

Bournemouth council is signed up to the National Transfer Scheme, which was launched in 2016 as a way to take pressure off local authorities with large numbers of asylum claims by spreading applicants around the country.

According to the report, Bournemouth's quota under the scheme is 24 people.

The scheme is voluntary, and sees the Government provide additional funding for asylum seeker children aged under 16 at £41,610 per year.

The report by Local Children Safeguarding Board business manager Sue Jones states: "The underlying data suggests that the numbers of children in care has plateaued in Bournemouth and will remain slightly above the England average (62 per 10,000) but below the Statistical Neighbour average (69.9 per 10,000), suggesting a good balance between preventative services and the care threshold.

"Further work is ongoing to ensure that the right children are being looked after for the right amount of time, such as focussing on improvement in the quality of practice and ensuring that social work intervention occurs earlier, before families hit crisis."