Verbal update to be provided by Cllr David Simmonds, Chairman of the Asylum, Refugee and Migration Task Group.
Minutes:
Sally Burlington, Head of Programmes, provided an update on the current positon for local government on the government’s decision to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees over the life of the parliament. She highlighted that the Home Office had announced that 1,000 refugees would be resettled before Christmas 2015, and were currently negotiating with local authorities the number to be taken by each locality. Offers for nearly all of the first 1,000 had been received, but there was still a lot of work to do on accommodation and support. Ongoing issues included:
· The LGA’s Asylum, Refugee and Migration Task Group had secured a commitment from government that funding for each refugee would be available for five years, but would need to ensure that the whole scheme was fully funded in practice.
· Government funding would follow the person, so if a refugee moved to another local authority area their funding would be transferred.
· It was unclear if refugee families would be subject to the benefit cap. Clarity was required on the circumstances under which money would be paid above the benefit cap given the wide variation of housing and social care costs across the country.
· A national solution had been proposed for unaccompanied children, although there were not expected to be many under the Syrian scheme.
· The question of what would happen after five years was still not resolved.
· It was still unclear how the large number of offers of support from the voluntary sector and through community sponsorship would be managed.
· In order for local authorities to effectively plan for refugees in their area, early access to information on housing, health and social care needs would be required. There were currently ongoing negotiations on the most effective method for this.
· Local authorities had established lead Chief Executives, Directors of Adult Services and Directors of Children’s Services, who could be approached informally to enquire how many refugees their authorities would be willing to take.
In the discussion which followed Members made a number of comments including:
· The need to continue negotiations with the government, in particular on the issue of fair distribution across the country and the benefits cap.
· Many councils were willing to take refugees but did not want to go public until particular issues had been clarified by the government.
· Given high levels of public and media interest, work on national and local communications was vital to explain councils’ position and protect the reputation of local government.
· Other bodies outside local authorities were in a position to help house refugees, including the Church of England and various housing associations.
· Members shared examples from their localities of decisions taken on refugee resettlement.
· Members asked that Cllr David Simmonds and the LGA’s Asylum, Refugee and Migration Task Group be formally thanked for their work on the Syrian refugee crisis.
Decision
The LGA Executive noted the update on the refugee resettlement process and that a further update would be provided at a future meeting.
Action
Cllr David Simmonds and the Asylum, Refugee and Migration Task Group be formally thanked for their work to date on behalf of local authorities.