Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reasons the Supporting the asylum dispersal scheme invitation for funding published on 23 November 2017, issued jointly by his Department and the Home Office is not open to equivalent asylum dispersal local authorities in other regions and constituent parts of the UK; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government is providing funding of up to £2.5 million from the local services element of the Controlling Migration Fund (CMF) which is administered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
The funding made available for this scheme comes from an existing MHCLG budget; it is not new funding. Therefore Barnett consequentials do not apply.
The Government has no plans or remit to extend the scheme to local authorities in the devolved nations, which have their own funding arrangements in this area including through the Immigration Enforcement part of the CMF.
Funding is available for 2018/19 and the Government intends to publish its plans for the national evaluation of the scheme in due course. We expect all participating local authorities to contribute to the evaluation exercise so that lessons can be learned to inform the new arrangements for asylum seeker support from 2019.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which local authorities in England will be eligible to apply for the Supporting the asylum dispersal scheme; what criteria determines eligibility; which local authorities applied for the scheme by its deadline of 21 December 2017; what the outcome is of such applications; what the contractual requirements on local authorities are in terms of refused asylum seekers, and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government invited local authorities with the highest numbers of asylum seekers receiving Government support to apply to the scheme. Ten local authorities applied by the 21 December 2017 deadline – Bradford, Coventry, Kirklees, Leeds, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield and Wolverhampton. Additional applications have been received from Birmingham and Sandwell. Successful local authorities will be notified in due course.
Participating local authorities are expected to work with asylum seekers awaiting a decision and make them aware of the support available once a decision has been made, as well as preparing them for the consequences of a negative decision by supporting a voluntary return to their home countries.