A £4m cut to Croydon Council's funding for looking after hundreds of child asylum seekers has been reversed.

Last September it emerged the Home Office was slashing its contribution to the council’s budget for caring for younger refugees, despite Prime Minister David Cameron announcing the country would accept 20,000 refugees over the next five years following pressure for to act on the growing humanitarian crisis.

Following a cross-party outcry over the cuts from Croydon councillors and MPs, immigration minister James Brokenshire met with council leader Tony Newman in October to discuss the concerns over funding.

Earlier this month it appeared progress on restoring the funding had been made when Coun Newman claimed the Home Office had committed to give back “somewhere between £3m and £3.5m”.

RELATED:

Sep 2015: Home Office cuts Croydon's asylum-seeker funding by £4m amid refugee crisis

Sep 2015: Mapped: Where Croydon's child asylum-seekers have fled from

Oct 2015: Home Office set to reverse £4m cut in Croydon's asylum-seeker funding following political outcry

But in a letter to council yesterday Mr Brokenshire confirmed that the full amount of funding had been restored.

Coun Newman said: “I’m very pleased to report the welcome return of our money from the government for this year and I do appreciate that the Minister has listened to us on this.

“Clearly our robust approach has paid off and we have got the £4m back.

“I look forward to continuing our work with the Minister and the challenge now is both on the policy issues and making sure that the Government funds Croydon fairly for the coming year and beyond.”

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 three councils a sum of money for each day an unaccompanied young person is in their care.

In September the money Croydon council receives, which varies depending on the child's age, was cut from between £114 and £137.50 per day for each child to between £91 and £114.

The authority received about £20m through the scheme in 2014/15.