Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 34
34
Paragraph: 142
In 2018 our predecessors recommended that the Government “must provide dispersal authorities with dedicated funding...
Recommendation
In 2018 our predecessors recommended that the Government “must provide dispersal authorities with dedicated funding to better manage dispersal and the related impact on services” and to give currently non-participating authorities confidence that they would be fully supported were they to take an equitable share of this population. We are both concerned and disappointed that the Home Office has failed to make better progress on this fundamental issue, which could compromise the Government’s ability to meet its statutory responsibilities under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. We repeat that, to achieve increased voluntary participation in the dispersal scheme, the Government must directly fund all dispersal local authorities to take account of the competing financial and capacity challenges that they face.
Paragraph Reference:
142
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Home Office is committed to working collaboratively with communities and stakeholders to ensure that destitute asylum seekers are provided with safe, secure and suitable accommodation. We have established the Local Government Chief Executive Group (HOLGCEX) group to bring together senior representatives from Home Office, Local Government Association and Local Authorities with the aim of working in partnership to improve the asylum dispersal process for the people who use this service and the communities in which they reside. In July 2019 the group agreed an approach to achieve more equity in asylum dispersal across the UK, aligning each region’s share of asylum population to its national population share. This includes work by all parties to Home Office preparedness for COVID-19 (coronavirus): institutional accommodation: 13 understand and address barriers to wider participation in the asylum dispersal scheme. taxation, we recognise that a lack of further direct funding is one issue that has been regularly asserted by some local authorities as their main reason for not participating. Members of the HOLGCEX group are working collaboratively to identify and evidence these additional costs and the appropriate funding mechanisms. As the Committee notes, in response to the outbreak of COVID-19 the decision was taken to temporarily pause the cessation of asylum support for those who would ordinarily no longer be eligible for accommodation. This has enabled individuals to effectively comply with public health guidance and mitigated pressures on Local Authorities. Procurement of enough Dispersed Accommodation (DA) is the only sustainable solution to use of contingency accommodation and that can only be achieved with the co-operation of Local Authorities. The Home Office has continued to engage extensively with Local Authorities, other government departments and stakeholders, which includes members of the voluntary and community sector to plan an appropriate resumption to termination of statutory support that takes account of competing capacity and community pressures. We have tasked our Strategic Migration Partnerships to support us in working with Local Authorities to support a collective approach to increasing dispersal participation and assisting those who are no longer eligible to ‘move-on’ from asylum accommodation in order to achieve the level of procurement required to reduce use of contingency accommodation in their areas. This work will report upward to the Home Office Local Government Chief Executive Group (HOLGCEX).