Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will provide specific funding to local authorities to take in refugees under (a) the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy programme and (b) the Government's announcement on taking in 20,000 refugees from Afghanistan over the next five years.

The Government has worked at pace to develop and launch a new and bespoke resettlement scheme, announced on 18 August, which will relocate 5,000 vulnerable people in its first year, rising to up to 20,000 over the coming years – one of the most generous schemes in British history. The Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) is in addition to the Afghan Relocations Assistance Policy (ARAP), which offers any current or former locally employed staff who are assessed to be under serious threat to life priority relocation to the UK.

Work is underway across government departments, and with charities and local authorities, to ensure people are properly supported so they can rebuild their lives. Further detail on the support we provide to those we bring to the UK through both schemes, including levels of funding, will be made available in due course.