Member

Finally, the amendment stipulates that anyone overseeing age assessments must be operationally independent of the Home Office. This particularly addresses concerns about conflicts of interest raised regarding the National Age Assessment Board, whose social workers are employed by the Home Office and whose assessments have been found to be flawed in a number of publicised cases. Although the NAAB social workers assured the independent chief inspector and inspectors that they saw themselves as social workers first and foremost and denied any conflict of interest, the independent chief inspector’s report noted that inspectors found some blurring of the boundaries between asylum caseworking and the NAAB’s age assessment work. This is a source of particular concern to the British Association of Social Workers.