Purpose

By approving the recommendation,
council officers will be able to:

a.     
Make effective use of the
Resettlement grants underspend for the benefit of all communities
across North Northamptonshire to avoid any risk of claw back from
central government.

 

Providing funding to increase
staff capacity or bespoke projects in the medium term where
required to deliver on the programmes listed
above. 

Content

 In the autumn of 2021 the
Home Office announced a commitment to support Afghan refugees under
two schemes, the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP)
scheme to provide assistance to current and former Locally Employed
Staff (LES) in Afghanistan and under the  Afghan Citizens Resettlement
Scheme (ACRS) to provide support to a wider cohort of people
fleeing the Taliban regime. Both schemes attracted a tariff for the
Council for each individual resettled.

 

A previous report was approved by
the Executive on 13th
January 2022 agreeing to support
the resettlement of Afghan refugees and also approved delegated
authority to the relevant Executive Member, in liaison with the
relevant Assistant Director to take any further decisions and/or
actions required. 

 

The Homes for Ukraine Scheme was
launched on 14th
March 2022 by the Secretary of
State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. North
Northamptonshire Council is responsible for several functions to
support the scheme including the initial sponsor and housing
checks, payments to sponsors, safeguarding checks, ongoing support,
school places, and information about the local
area. 

A previous report was approved by
the Executive on the 14th
July 2022, agreeing the proposals
as to how the Government Local Authority Funding would be
used. The Executive also approved delegated
authority to the relevant Executive Member, in liaison with the
relevant Assistant Director to take any further decisions and/or
actions required. 

In May 2022 the Government
announced a shift from an opt-in model for asylum dispersal,
whereby Local Authorities could choose to be Dispersal areas, to a
Full Asylum Dispersal model where asylum seekers will be placed
across all LA areas.

A previous report was approved by
the Executive on 15th
September 2022, regarding the
Council’s limited role in supporting asylum seekers housed
here under the dispersal scheme and which
approved 
delegated es authority to the
relevant Executive Member for, in liaison with the relevant
Assistant Director for Adults, Communities and Wellbeing, to take
any further decisions and/or actions required, including use of the
funding, to support the dispersal and settlement, temporary or
otherwise, of asylum seekers North Northamptonshire.

 

This decision set out below, and
being taken through the delegated authority process, relates to
additional proposed uses for the funding to continue the support of
refuges being resettled in North Northamptonshire.

 

A spend plan for 2026/27 to
2029/30 for a proportion of significant underspend (currently at
circa £8m) sat within the Refugee Resettlement programme has
been developed and agreed by finance colleagues and the Director of
Public Health & Communities & Leisure to ensure that
funding is directed to projects, activities and initiatives that
will benefit the health & wellbeing and resilience of
communities across North Northamptonshire including our refugee and
diverse communities.

The spend plan includes continued
direct delivery of the current resettlement programmes with some
additional activity and contributions of the grants
towards 
NNC services, which are subject to
a separate Decision Notice.

 

This decision relates to wider
activities that support delivery across the directorate.

1.     
Logistics support for the Stronger
and Safer Communities, Resettlement, Community Cohesion &
Integrated Care System Place Programmes (including Local Area
Partnerships and Place Based Partnerships) for such costs as room
hire, community events which bring residents, communities and local
stakeholders together, equipment, promotional materials,
refreshments) (44k p.a.)

2.     
Contribution to the Active
Communities service which delivers outreach physical activity and
healthy lifestyles activities across North Northamptonshire
communities in local settings to engage individual residents,
families and harder to reach communities such as minority and
refugee groups who would not naturally attend a gym or leisure
centre. The funding will increase staff hours to be able to deliver
more programmes across more communities. (50k p.a.)

3.     
Contribution to the digital front
door web-based offer being developed for Children, Families, Adults
and Local Area Partnerships across North Northamptonshire which
will make it easier for residents of all backgrounds to understand
what services are on offer in their local area, to self-help in
order to reduce demand on high volume Council services and to get
involved in community activities and as such live more healthy and
resilient lives. (40k p.a.)

4.     
Grants Management software to
support the distribution of grants into the VCSFE sector by the
Council and provide even more robust ways to make it easier for
communities to apply for funding and to report on this activity and
promote the impact this funding has for all communities across the
North Northamptonshire communities. (10k p.a.)

5.     
Additional Transformation
project management support across communities and leisure services
to drive forward key service plan activities which will drive
future efficiencies, increased income generation and more modern
public services. Such programmes (not an exhaustive list) include:
Programme to deliver a more financially sustainable model for the
management of our Active Wellbeing and leisure facilities and
services; Programme to deliver a Heritage Masterplan for
North Northamptonshire to secure,
sustain and make publicly accessible our cultural and heritage
assets for all our communities and for future generations, using
creative and heritage activity to improve health and wellbeing
whilst at the same time  maximising income generating
opportunities; Programme to deliver the outcomes of the options
appraisal for public realm CCTV infrastructure and services so as
to improve  the safety of our
communities, prevent and detect crime streamline delivery, realise
efficiency savings and grow income generating opportunities. (195k
p.a.)

6.     
A bookings system for hire of
community facilities, playing pitches and pavilions run by the
Council so that current arrangements can be streamlined, all
potential income is maximised, and efficiently collected, the
facilities are promoted and accessible to all communities and
management reports can be more robustly produced. (20k
p.a.)

7.     
Funding to deliver a programme of
refurbishment and upgrades to community and leisure facilities the
Council owns and operates, aligned with the Active Communities
Strategic Framework and (when complete) the Community Centres
review, to maximise income generation opportunities through an
improved commercial offer at those premises. (300k one off in
2026/27)

8.     
Funding into VCSFE collaboration
projects developed by the 7 Local Area Partnerships (LAPs) to
address health inequalities during 2025. To either provide
continuation funding for existing projects in order to upscale or
increase reach or more new projects coming forward from the LAPs.
(100k)

Annual total: 459k

One off amount in 26/27:
300k

 

All programmes and activity will
be reviewed to inform whether the funding is required into the
subsequent year.