Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will develop a coordinated refugee dispersal policy with (a) all nations of the UK, (b) other government departments and (c) local government incorporating the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme, the dispersal and transfer of unaccompanied children and the Compass Contracts for accommodation of asylum seekers.

The UK Government has been co-ordinating the dispersal of asylum and resettlement schemes for many years and we will continue to ensure that all refugees are provided with appropriate care, regardless of their route to the UK.

Our existing policies are aimed at ensuring an equitable distribution of asylum seekers and refugees across the country so that no individual local authority bears a disproportionate share of the burden. However, we recognise that the development of existing schemes will require an expansion of current networks and the impact on local communities and infrastructure will need to be managed carefully to ensure that no local authority is required to take more than they can support.

That is why the Home Office is working closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Education to ensure consultation with local authorities is consistent and co-ordinated across all resettlement and relocation programmes. The Home Office will continue to maintain an active partnership with local governments across the whole of the UK, and funds Strategic Migration Partnerships to plan for the most appropriate dispersal of asylum seekers. The partnerships consider the impact s of these different schemes so that adjustments to dispersal patterns can be made to ensure that people continue to be integrated sensitively into local communities.