Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on funding of the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme; and if she will make a statement.

As the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme is not funded by the EU we do not anticipate any impact. The first 12 months of a refugee’s resettlement costs are fully funded by central government using the overseas aid budget. At the Spending Review, the Chancellor announced an estimated £460 million over the spending review period to cover the first 12 months’ costs under the scheme. The costs which can be covered from the aid budget include, for example, any education, housing, medical or social care the refugees might need immediately on arrival.

At the Spending Review the Government committed £129 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 of the scheme. This will be allocated on a tariff basis over four years, tapering from £5,000 per person in their second year in the UK, to £1,000 per person in year five.