Croydon Council fears it could face fresh cuts to its funding for the care of hundreds of child asylum-seekers just months after ministers reversed reductions following an outcry.

The Home Office is yet to confirm the rates it will pay to care for vulnerable young refugees in the 2016/2017 financial year - despite the council relying on the multimillion pound grant to balance its books.

In February the Government announced it had backtracked on plans to slash payments to Croydon Council and two other “gateway” authorities with the highest numbers of unaccompanied asylum-seeking youngsters.

The decision, which followed months of objections from across the political spectrum, meant the council received about £4m more to pay for the care of more than 400 children in the 2015/16 financial year.

RELATED: Home Office overturns decision to cut £4m from Croydon's asylum seeker funding

But Simon Hall, cabinet member for finance, said it was "worrying" immigration minister James Brokenshire had not yet informed the council of any decision on grant funding before the start of the new financial year this month.

He added: "When you have got asylum-seeking children and placements, you can't suddenly change what you're getting [in funding]."

"After what happened last year we want to see in black and white what rates we are going to be paid.

"[But] they only committed to what they were going to do in the year, and they did promise they would send us details of what they planned to pay us in 2016/2017 at the same time [in February] - but that still hasn't come. It's a bit worrying.

RELATED: Dozens gather outside Croydon immigration centre Lunar House to protest 'scapegoating' Government policies (VIDEO)

"We're left not having that certainty when the financial year has already started."

Croydon is home to the only Home Office asylum-seeker screening unit in the country, and is one of three “gateway” councils - along with Hillingdon and Kent - that have the highest population of asylum-seekers.

The Government pays the authorities a sum of money for each day an unaccompanied young asylum-seeker is in their care.

If last year's planned cut had gone ahead, the money Croydon received, which varies depending on the child's age, would have been cut from between £114 and £137.50 per day for each child to between £91 and £114.

RELATED: Home Office cuts Croydon's asylum-seeker funding by £4m amid refugee crisis

Croydon Council received about £20m through the scheme, which is paid in instalments, in 2014/15.

Cllr Hall said it was a "pity" the rates had to be renegotiated every year and expressed surprise it had taken so long for the Home Office to inform the council of its plans.

He added: "I would like to think that they will not change the rates, but it's a risk in the budget.

“Until we get the final [confirmation] letter from the Home Office, there's still a risk."

The Home Office has been contacted for comment.

Croydon Council had 469 child asylum-seekers in its care, more than every local authority in the country except Kent, as of September last year.

That figure represented a 21 per cent increase on the previous year, with the population expected to continue growing as a result of the ongoing migrant crisis.

Last week, England's children’s commissioner Anne Longfield appealed to the French government to speed up asylum claims for 150 children trapped in the Calais “jungle” refugee camp who may be eligible to travel to the UK.

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