Member

We know that the consequences are really serious. While the Government do not publish clear data on this, evidence from local authority children’s services analysed by the Helen Bamber Foundation revealed that, over an 18-month period, over 1,300 children were wrongly assessed as adults by the Home Office. In 2024, over 600 children were misidentified—over half of cases where a decision on age was concluded at all. These children were placed in adult accommodation, denied access to education and legal support and, in some cases, prosecuted and imprisoned as adults.