Meeting documents

Verbal update from Simon Clifford, Corporate Affairs Director and Brittney Strange, Health Promotion Manager – Resettlement.

Note: The Chair will be allowing 30 minutes for this agenda item to allow for discussion.

The Committee received a verbal update from the Council’s Corporate Affairs Director, Simon Clifford and from the Council’s Health Promotion Manager (Resettlement) and the Council’s Health Promotion Manager, Brittney Strange on the County Council’s response to the Afghan Refugee position.

SCC is the lead authority for co-ordinating the countywide response, with the district councils and voluntary sectors working alongside to support. There is a resettlement webpage with up-to-date information about the current plans, what the accommodation needs are, and what people can do to volunteer or donate: https://www.somerset.gov.uk/refugee-resettlement/

Following the presentation, the Committee asked detailed questions and made comments, which were responded to by officers, as follows: -

-      Questions on unaccompanied children; support to non-English speaking family members; placement close to places of worship; trauma – these will be responded to outside the meeting and shared with the Committee. The Afghanistan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) is specifically for families and households scheme / pathway and one of the reasons for bringing this update to the Children and Families Scrutiny Committee

-      Noted the overwhelming response from the community and donations to support people - people are asked to donate to charities that help refugees in the UK and abroad through organisations such as British Red Cross, Oxfam, Save the Children, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), UNICEF, World Food Programme, Refugee Action

-      Role of locally elected members – will keep the website pages and councillors informed throughout

-      Housing and questions on tenancies etc – there will be varied housing tenures in place

-      Noted that the Government funding is in place for 12 months

-      Learning from previous programmes and from other LA areas too – has been learning from the Syrian Refugee programme for example, to help shape future provision

-      Consideration should be given for additional capacity in the short term to the Resettlement Team.

On behalf of the Committee, the Chair thanked the officers for the detailed update and work being done by the County Council and partners to support refugees.