Fears asylum seeker plans could cause major issues in Fenland

Fenland District Council is set to make representations against Government plans to locate an unspecified number of asylum seekers in to the area.

The move, which is being imposed upon the authority as part of a Government policy to spread the load of housing asylum seekers across the country, has sparked deep concerns among officers and the council's portfolio holder for housing, Councillor Sam Hoy.

A report to Monday's Cabinet meeting explains that Serco - a leading provider of Government services - has been tasked with looking after asylum seekers in the East of England.

The report explains Fenland will be required to house, what is thought to be between 60 to 100 asylum seekers, by the end of next year and that Serco will be sourcing accommodation for them from the private rented accommodation sector.

The report points out that: "There is relatively tight, and increasingly expensive, private sector rented housing provision in Fenland" and that any move to house asylum seekers in the district would have the potential to restrict properties for other people in need of accommodation.

It goes further to suggest the "consequential impact on supply could create further inflation in rents at a time when the cost of living is causing people to struggle".

A raft of other concerns are raised in the report including the lack of community support networks to provide social support for asylum seekers and that the district's sub-standard and expensive public transport system would make access to such support in places like Peterborough and Cambridge, difficult if not impossible for them.

The report says: "Fenland District Council does not support the Asylum Seeker Dispersal Scheme. It is imperative that allocations take into account the existing or any newly created community support structures appropriate for the nationality and culture of the asylum seekers themselves – for example it would be wholly inappropriate to place a practising Muslim asylum seeker in a property in a village with no access to a local asylum seekers' support group, nor to an appropriate place of worship, nor to a shop selling Halal meat or foods with which they are familiar and with no practical means to afford public transport to access any such facilities.

"Until and unless the Government, and Serco, take into account the appropriateness of the locations where asylum seekers would be placed, the scheme remains fundamentally flawed and will be unsuccessful."

Asylum seekers will lose their right to accommodation provided by Serco if their application for political asylum and any subsequent appeal are rejected. They will then be left without recourse to public funds.

Whilst those whose applications are unsuccessful will be 'signposted to leave' there is no guarantee they will and Coun Hoy fears they could either "do a flit" or add to the problem of homelessness in the district.

She said: "It is very concerning. Our services are already over-stretched and these proposals will make them even more stretched.

"It is all well and good the Government saying every area should take asylum seekers, but basically they are expecting us to help instead of actually fixing the immigration problem - and that is not fair.

"We have been told we will get extra funding, but have no idea how much it will be or if it will actually be enough."

The report to Monday's meeting asks the Cabinet to provide instructions to officers as to what preparation needs to be made by the council in respect of the Asylum Seeker Dispersal Programme, and the assessment of the revenue budget implications of the scheme.

Members are also being asked to instruct officers together with Coun Hoy to send letters to local MP Steve Barclay and the soon-to-be new Prime Minister to demand:

A) that Government continues and increases its attempts to identify and reduce the number of illegal asylum seekers entering and remaining in the UK.

B) that Government significantly improve the asylum processing system so that asylum seekers’ applications are processed in a timely manner.

C) that measures to remove from the UK those destitute individuals who have no recourse to public funds be significantly improved.

D) that all additional local authority costs resulting from the Asylum Seeker Dispersal Policy should be guaranteed to be reimbursed in full by Government, including those costs which are incurred following an asylum seeker’s application for asylum being refused.