Independent Social Workers and Age Assessments

Jon Holbrook recently grilled three independent social workers who gave evidence for the claimant, an Afghan asylum seeker, in an age assessment case.

They had sought to support the claimant’s claimed age of 16 whereas Solihull’s social workers had concluded that he was probably 20.  In what is understood to have been the first fully contested age assessment case in the Upper Tribunal the Tribunal concluded in favour of Solihull. 

For Jon Holbrook’s summary of the case Age assessment R(AM) v Solihull.