Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the impact of prolonged stays in bridging accommodation on the ability of refugees to settle in other parts of the UK.

Operation Warm Welcome is a significant cross-government effort, working with local authorities, NGOs, housing organisations and the commercial sector to explore all options available to meet the need for housing. We are working closely with Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities and other stakeholders to identify a range of alternative accommodation options to minimise hotel use and to enable people to get into accommodation as quickly as possible in order for them to begin their new lives here in the UK.

We do not want to keep people in temporary accommodation for any longer than is absolutely necessary and more than 4,000 Afghans who arrived in the UK before, during, and after Operation Pitting have either been matched or are in the process of being matched into properties.

We currently have Home Office Liaison Officers (HOLO’s) who’s role is to provide support to those in bridging hotel accommodation. The role of the HOLO is to provide both face to face support and remote support when not physically present. They are reactive to the needs of those accommodated in hotels and can provide signposting to other government departments and Local Authorities and ensure safeguarding concerns are appropriately acted upon.

There is a huge effort underway to get families into permanent homes as soon as we can so they can settle and rebuild their lives, and to ensure those still temporarily accommodated in hotels have access to healthcare, education, any essential items they need as well as employment opportunities or Universal Credit.

We have a range of criteria which is taken into consideration when allocating families into permanent accommodation to allow for the best possible matches, this includes family size, vulnerabilities and availability of housing.

We strive to allocate the right families into the right accommodation to ensure they have a smooth integration into their new communities within the UK.

DLUHC have created a new Housing Portal to make it easier for councils to assess the suitability of properties prior to contacting landlords. Offers of property are triaged by DLUHC and sent directly to councils. We are also looking at ways to make more suitable homes available in the private rental sector by engaging with landlords, letting agencies and industry bodies to promote the housing portal and encourage participation in the resettlement programme. We are also working with the Estate Agent Rightmove to identify potential properties available in the private rental sector.

Local Authorities continue to assist with helping families to integrate into communities upon their arrival to their permanent accommodation. We would also ask that Local Authorities who are not already part of the scheme to consider assisting in our efforts to resettle the Afghan people into permanent accommodation in the UK.

There are no plans to publish targets for placing Afghans in permanent accommodation.