Agenda item

The Committee will receive a report on the current position with the Refugee Resettlement schemes in Buckinghamshire to enable Members to review the support that the Council is offering to guests from Ukraine and Afghanistan.

Contributors:

Cllr Arif Hussain, Deputy Cabinet Member for Community Safety

Richard Barker, Corporate Director, Communities

Matt Everitt, Interim Service Director, Service Improvement

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Cllr Arif Hussain, Deputy Cabinet Member for Community Safety; Richard Barker, Corporate Director, Communities; Matt Everitt, Interim Service Director, Service Improvement, and Richard Ambrose, Director of Major Projects, Resources to the meeting, who provided an overview of the scheme:

·       Over the past two years, Buckinghamshire had welcomed families from Afghanistan and Ukraine. Whilst the settlement schemes were slightly different, the key principle was to offer wraparound care and support. The voluntary and community sectors were working with the Council, alongside generous residents and local businesses.

·       There were significant differences between the two different cohorts being resettled within the county: Arrivals from Afghanistan had a right to remain indefinitely, whereas those from Ukraine could remain for a period of three years.

·       Partners including health, the police, Buckinghamshire Business First and charitable organisations were providing support including through working groups, for example, focussing on health and education, working collaboratively to ensure that families were quickly linked with healthcare services and all children who had arrived had secured a school place.

·       Buckinghamshire’s arrival figures were high compared to other local authorities. We had received over 1200 Ukrainian refugees, with another 551 which had been matched to Buckinghamshire. At the end of August, there were just under 700 active sponsors.

·       Long term, the Council had a target of hosting 30 Afghan families, and to date, there were 12 families (a total of 52 people) housed across 13 different properties. All children in those households were linked to an appropriate education establishment. There were an additional 8 families in the pipeline.

·       The presenters welcomed the generosity displayed by Buckinghamshire residents, both in terms of hosting guests, organising community activities, and providing donations.

The following points were noted during the Committee’s discussion:

·       The Chairman thanked the Council and the voluntary sector organisations, particularly Community Impact Bucks and Heart of Bucks, for their support in settling their Ukrainian guests. She also complimented the Council for efficiently dealing with the home inspections and DBS checks that each sponsor host must have before their guests arrive.

·       A Member raised concerns that the funding provided by Central Government was not being directed to support refugees to access private housing. Finding appropriate housing following the six-month hosting period was revealed to be particularly challenging due to the private housing market’s highly competitive and expensive nature in Bucks 

·       Whilst a detailed breakdown of the funds could not be provided in this meeting, the Deputy Cabinet Member assured the Committee that funds were used carefully to ensure the appropriate services for refugees were provided and expanded on. Whilst the scheme provided the Council with funds of £10,500 per guest, these were received in quarterly arrears. Most of the funding would be spent on medium-term accommodation arrangements beyond the sponsorship period. Funds received so far (roughly £8m) had been allocated for housing and accommodation support, staffing, checks on welfare support and safeguarding. Some of the money had also been spent on support packages, parenting programmes and mentoring. The Council had also commissioned Community Impact Bucks to ensure translators are available for effective communication with local hosts. It was also stated that funding for families who do not remain in the UK for 12 months of their sponsorship would not be received.

·       Whilst it was noted that the flow of funding was very fluid and there was uncertainty around future funding from Government, another member agreed that it would be helpful to see the breakdown or balance sheet as it was important to be realistic about the options for Ukrainian guests when their 6-month placement comes to an end. It would be very difficult for them to move into privately rented accommodation due to the cost implications but also issues around credit history etc. Could the Council consider a rent guarantee scheme to support them in moving into private rented accommodation?

·       The Deputy Cabinet Member agreed that a breakdown of the funding would be provided to the Select Committee.                                     Action: Matt Everitt

·       It was pointed out that the pressure on housing was not just an issue for refugees, but also for local residents currently waiting to be housed. Concerns were also raised regarding families needing to leave their placements before the 6 months have elapsed. The Committee was advised that there were only a very small number of families who needed to leave their placement homes, for example, to move closer to employment opportunities. There were also several means of support in place, such as referral to private accommodation, financial incentives for sponsors who might be struggling or rematching the family with another sponsor.

·       The Chairman drew attention to the support available from the voluntary sector, which dealt with a number of the issues raised in this meeting (Community Impact Bucks, Rothschild Foundation, Heart of Bucks, Leap and the Clare Foundation).

·       Members noted that whilst the short- and medium-term support provided had been successful, attention must also be drawn to providing positive opportunities for the future. It was currently difficult to predict what the future of Ukraine could look like. However, the Committee were assured that education for children, but also funded training for adults for sought-after skills as well as English language training had been organised to ensure sufficient integration. Once more information about future plans and finances was available, this would be shared with the Committee. Overall, the Council deployed the national strategy of supporting people to remain settled in their current locations.

·       In response to a member’s question around Ukrainian children’s educational experiences, it was noted that all children were in an appropriate educational establishment. Additional pressures in light of new scheduled arrivals would be discussed by a dedicated education subgroup.  Furthermore, webinars for Ukrainian parents would be held in some schools to clarify expectations around the process and the UK schooling system. Teachers were also being prepared to deal with emotional distress that Ukrainian children could likely experience, and mental health support was also available.

·       A member noted that whilst support for refugees was appreciated, support for current residents of Buckinghamshire was also needed due to the cost-of-living crisis. The member was advised to refer residents to the Helping Hand Scheme.

·       In response to a question regarding Afghan families still living in hotels and their options for accommodation, members were advised that if a family refused two offers of accommodation, they could then present as homeless to any local authority. Locally, the Council was working closely with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) with a view to accessing some of the larger houses which the MoD had surplus for Afghan families.

The Chairman thanked Cllr Arif Hussain, Richard Barker, Richard Ambrose and Matt Everitt for attending the meeting.  The Select Committee wished to thank all officers who had been working on support to Afghan and Ukrainian guests, many of whom were doing this alongside their usual role and the residents and communities who had taken guests into their homes.