Issue - meetings

Report of Corporate Director for Communities, Environment and Resident Services

Councillor Jenkins, Executive Member for Communities, Waste and Equalities, introduced the report.

Beth Hanna, Migration Operations Manager, presented the report and stated the following:

a.  Nottingham City has been an Asylum Dispersal Area since 2002, although were not allocated any government funding for this until 2021-2022 (received retrospectively in 2022).

b.  The asylum dispersal process provides accommodation and support via a Home Office-contracted provider (currently SERCO, previously G4S) while individual asylum claims are assessed.

c.  In 2022, participation in asylum dispersal became mandatory for all Local Authorities areas in England, Scotland and Wales to allow for movement from hotels to less expensive and more suitable dispersed accommodation.

d.  The following grants (totalling £1,458,000) have been received by the Council and require retrospective approval to accept (the government allocate this funding retrospectively):

Grant 4 - £171,500

Grant 5 - £12,000

Grant 6 - £1,099,500

Grant 7 - £175,000

e.  The funding received so far has been used to support existing and current services for people seeking asylum, and the allocation of this resource is key to service delivery within the Council and Voluntary Community Sector as the funding will support and help alleviate additional pressures placed on these services, which currently already have a high demand and limited capacity.

f.  The funding will be used to support the delivery of vital services to this vulnerable cohort and adequately help resource services who have been delivering and developing quality provision previously without this additional funding.

Resolved to

(1)  authorise acceptance and drawdown of relevant grant monies (in part retrospectively) from the Government Asylum Dispersal Fund between 2023-2028 (5 years);

(2)  grant delegated authority to the Corporate Director for Communities, Environment and Resident Services to:

(a)  approve the outcome of any funding agreements and Voluntary Community Sector grant programmes set up to meet the needs of people seeking asylum, in line with Council processes;

(b)  spend on other required services within the Council and externally with the voluntary and Community sector and other services, subject to compliance with Home Office Funding Instructions and Nottingham City Council’s constitutional requirements;

(c)  extend staff contracts as required, subject to available funding at the time, associated with this project to deliver, manage and develop the service and improve governance, contractual and compliance arrangements, responding to need and changing trends.

Reasons for recommendations

g.  The Secretary of State for the Home Office has agreed to provide the Council a grant as a contribution to supporting Asylum Seeker Dispersal. This funding is ringfenced but can be used by Local Authorities on how best they see fit to support Asylum Seekers and ease specific local pressures on already overstretched services. Payment will, however, be subject to the conditions of the grant agreement.

h.  It should be noted that Central Government funding instructions are frequently changing in parameters and time scales and are often issued after implementation has begun.

i.  The Asylum Dispersal Fund contributes along with other Government funding (such as Refugee Resettlement and Homes for Ukraine Scheme) to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48