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 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.

 

An additional spend plan relating
to use of underspend from the Resettlement grants for wider
activities that support delivery across the directorate is subject
to a separate Decision Notice.

 

New spend proposals:

 

1.     
Home to School Transport: In
recognition that the Homes for Ukraine and Afghan programme grants
are already contributing to the home to school transport costs for
children resettled in North Northamptonshire an annual contribution
on £25,000 will be made to the service to remove the
administrative burden of transferring funds every time the service
is used. (£25,000 p.a)

2.     
Support North Northants is a
VCSFE-led wraparound service provided early help and support for
vulnerable residents to connect with the wider VCSFE offer in their
communities and to help them connect with support services they may
require. SNN during 2023-25 has been funded through the National
Lottery Health Equalities Grant to deliver a positive action
programme to ensure its service reaches more seldom heard
communities such as black and other global majority communities
with considerable success. With this funding ending a £50,000
allocation from resettlement grants will allow this work to
continue, will build resilience in the refugee communities and
reduce the likelihood of future demand on more expensive council
and health services. (£50,000 p.a.)

3.     
Funding Adult Learning Service to
provide a bespoke English as a second language course for the women
in our resettled Afghan families who for cultural reasons are
unable to access other ESOL courses provided. (£10,000 for a
12m course, one year only).

4.     
Funding Adult Learning Service to
provide bespoke employability training and support for our refugee
cohorts who often struggle to find employment or to progress to
better paid employment in the local economy despite often having
many skills and professional careers in their previous country.
(£30,000 p.a.)

5.     
Contribution to the contract costs
for the new Domestic Abuse Refuge and support service, part of
which will provide a by and for bespoke service for black and
minority ethnic victims. Our work with the Afghan refugees in
particular has highlighted the potential vulnerability of them
being subject to domestic abuse or coercion and control. This
contribution will free up a small amount of the MHCLG DA funding to
be repurposed for other as important DA services, especially
focussing on prevention. (£10,000  p.a.)

6.     
Funding for a new Community
Cohesion Co-ordinator post within the Council’s Community
Safety Service to work closely with the VCSFE and statutory
partners to deliver the new Community Cohesion plan which is being
co-produced with communities during late 2025 and early 2026.
Community cohesion is a key priority for the new Community Safety
Partnership plan to ensure that all communities feel heard, can
come together safely to promote mutual understanding
and to celebrate diversity and to feel safe and resilient to
external threats. (£45,000 p.a.)

7.     
Funding for at least one annual
event to celebrate the diversity of our communities (such as
Diwali) to promote community cohesion. And for an additional events
officer in the Discover Northamptonshire team to support the
delivery of this event and to ensure all of the Council’s
events programmes have a positive focus on cohesion, community
celebration and the inclusion of all sections our of communities.
(£90,000 p.a.)

Annual total: £250,000
p.a

One off amount in 26/27:
£10,000

The current underspend in the
Resettlement grants sits at circa £8m so these proposals are
affordable.

For 25/26 some amounts will be
pro-rated for the remainder of this financial year, some will be
provided in full to offset pressure in service budgets.
All programmes and activity
will be reviewed annually to inform whether the funding is required
into the subsequent year.