News

Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair of the Local Government Association, which represents councils across England and Wales, said:“We are taking stock of the temporary injunction from the High Court and will be convening meetings with the Home Office, MHCLG and other partners, including the National Police Chiefs’ Council, to understand how best to support our councils following the decision."It will, of course, be for individual councils to determine what this ruling means for them. We know that asylum and resettlement is linked to wider issues such as housing pressures and community cohesion and that

Hotels have already begun to close to Afghan households across the country and - as we feared - councils are already seeing families presenting to them as homeless as a result.

"Councils work incredibly hard to support asylum and resettlement and have helped communities welcome around 200,000 Ukrainian refugees since the start of the war two years ago."

“The LGA has been raising concerns with government on the growing number of Ukrainians presenting as homeless to councils, and in particular the significant rise in those who arrived through the Homes for Ukraine scheme as their six month period with hosts ends", says Chairman of the Local Government Association, Cllr James Jamieson.

The Local Government Association is calling on the Government to help councils to develop more placements for unaccompanied children so that children can be moved directly to their long-term homes.

“Councils are continuing to work hard to help new arrivals from Ukraine settle in the UK and to support those in their communities offering assistance to those fleeing the devastating conflict."

The Government must continue to work closely with councils, the community and voluntary sector and other key local partners to co-design this sponsorship scheme so it can move at pace and scale."

"Councils will want to continue to work closely with government to ensure the rights and needs of children are at the heart of these new arrangements. These need to enable local partners to give children the help they need, including mental and physical health support and appropriate education."

“We are pleased that Government is providing additional funding for unaccompanied asylum seeking children. This is positive recognition of the valuable role councils play in providing support to children and young people starting a new life in the UK."

“While it is good that councils will receive initial one-year funding to deliver the scheme at the same level, this needs to be followed through with long-term funding in the Spending Review."