Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Chief Executive, (copy enclosed).

The Council considered the report of the Chief Executive seeking Members’ views about the extent to which they wished to support various Refugee Resettlement Schemes and the Asylum Dispersal Scheme, including financial regulations. 

It was noted that the Home Office had approached all Local Authorities to pledge support for two schemes to resettle Refugees that were currently outside the UK, and a third scheme to house Asylum Seekers that have already entered the UK.  The report provided further detail of these schemes.

Members were informed that an offer of accommodation had been made which would be suitable to meet the needs of the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme.  The timetable for the next arrival of families in June 2017 required the Council to give an early indication of whether it wished to continue to explore this offer of accommodation.

The Leader of the Council presented the report and advised how, because of the amount of interest within the Town, she had been working with the Interim Director of Resources and Customers Manager to identify alternative sources of funding.  She did not feel that any shortfall should come from the Council, but that the Council should act in a leadership role with the funding being sourced from elsewhere e.g. crowd-funding.  The Leader referred to the high level of public interest in this matter and provided an update as to how many families had been housed in other Districts / Boroughs.  The Leader of the Council proposed that recommendation (i) be agreed but the Council states it would not meet any shortfall but act in a leadership role to look at sourcing funding for this from another source and potentially set up, oversee and facilitate a crowd-funding scheme.

In response to a question, the Chief Executive clarified the accommodation that had been offered was not rent free but it had been heavily discounted.  The Customers Manager advised that the housing benefit scheme could meet the rent proposed but a benefit cap, resulting from a change made by central government, would mean that any families total benefits and income would be capped to a certain level.  The impact of this cap would be applied to housing benefit entitlement and therefore there was potential financial implications for the Council.

A debate ensued.  In response to a request the Leader of the Council clarified that she was proposing that the Council agree recommendation (i) but that the Council would not meet any financial deficit, retain within the recommendations the proposal that the Home Office provides assurance that there will be no financial costs to the Council and add a recommendation detailing that the Council in the interim takes a leadership role and continues to work with churches and other interested parties to investigate other sources of funding and the potential for a crowd funding initiative.

It was suggested that ‘in principle’ referred to in the first recommendation should be changed to ‘non-financial interest and support’.  This was supported.  Some concern was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 998