bout 18% in 2023–24. 12,878 14,977 15,277 15,699 3,786 4,069 4,951 6,387 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 2015–16 2019–20 2021–22 2023–24 Phase 5 Phase 7 Phase 8 Phase 9 Proportion of children in care Children in care age 16+ minus UAS children UAS children age 16+ 54 Table 12: UAS children as a proportion of care leavers on 31 March Note: Includes all care leavers whose 17th–25th birthday was in the reporting year. Phase 6 Phase 7 Phase 8 Phase 9 2017–18 2019–20 2021–22 2023–24 Care leavers 39,827 31,749 55,073 70,991 UAS children care leavers 4,705 9,361 10,621 12,954 Care leavers minus UAS children care leavers 35,122 22,388 44,452 58,037 A report by East Midlands Councils (2024) sets out clearly the extent to which delays in asylum decision-making and central government funding shortfalls are placing a multi- million-pound annual financial burden on local government and increasing pressure on placement sufficiency for care leavers. The report articulates how East Midlands authorities are responding regionally to these pressures with a range of initiatives. Government funding from the Home Office covers about 59% of placement and staffing costs (such as personal advisors, social workers and legal support) for former UAS care leavers. Funding pressures are particularly acute when providing support to the third of UAS young people awaiting an asylum decision who cannot work or study and have no recourse to public funds (NRPF). Research by the Migration Observatory shows that, though asylum claim backlogs have been reduced, there were still close to 100,000 claims outstanding at the end of 2023 (Cuibus et al., 2024). Respondents to both the survey and interviews described how a lack of access to education, employment and appropriate therapeutic support leaves