FOI request (FOIR-671457355)

Breakdown of refugee services

Requested Wed 18 December 2024
Responded Wed 08 January 2025

Please can you confirm since the financial year beginning April 2022, all the services the council has provided for refugees and how much these cost, regardless of where the funding came from, for example, internally, or via government grants/schemes for Ukrainian/Afghan/Syrian/Vulnerable refugees. This could also include funding from the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) among other schemes like ARAP, ACRS, UKRS, and so on.

For reference, other councils have mentioned services that include housing, translation, education, childcare, transport, goods/services, and so on.

Response

Please see the attached information.

Hastings Borough Council participates in both the Vulnerable Persons’ Resettlement Scheme (formerly Syrian Resettlement Scheme and UKRS) and the Afghan schemes ARAP and ACRS.

In order to deliver these projects effectively, the government provides local authorities with funding at £20,520 per individual over a three (VPRS and Afghan) or a five-year (Syrian Resettlement Scheme) period. This funding is used to employ the caseworkers that work with the families on the scheme, as well as the services the local authority provides as part of that funding. This includes, but is not limited to:

a. Sourcing of Private Rented Sector accommodation at a market rate, which is suitable and sustainable for those arriving on the scheme. Finding may be used to top up rents from the local housing allowance rate to the market rate until such time that the family become self-sufficient or the funding cycle ends.

b. Initial provision of essentials for arriving families, such as basic furniture.

c. Integration services.

d. Accessing ESOL classes. It is sometimes necessary to provide additional ESOL classes if there is a particular vulnerability in a family which means they are unable to attend college.

e. Access to education for school-age children (for example, provision of school uniforms).

f. Advice on, and assistance with access to benefits such as Universal Credit or Personal Independence Payments.

g. Employment and training advice. The council provides advice and assistance on family members accessing employment as soon as is practical, in order that families become self-sufficient and are able to sustain long-term tenancies and accommodation, relying less on the local authority or DWP. This service also provides practical assistance on accessing further and higher education opportunities, as well as vocational training in order to enable family members to continue with any profession they had in their home country.

The breakdown of Services provided for the Cohorts supported by the Support Into Work, Resettlement Employability Project(REP) which supports resettlement of Refugees and legal immigrants in East Sussex, and covers areas of Eastbourne, Rother, Wealden and Rye.

The expenditures are as accurate as they can be and are up 2024 to date.

The Council's Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) Round 1 programme spend is forecast at £1,455,299.

This programme was delivered in accordance with the guidance:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6426afc9fbe620000c17da14/Local_Authority_Housing_Fund__Prospectus_and_Guidance.pdf

The Council's LAHF Round 3 programme will deliver 1 resettlement home as per the guidance:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6426afc9fbe620000c17da14/Local_Authority_Housing_Fund__Prospectus_and_Guidance.pdf. Forecast expenditure is approximately £300,000.

Attachments

• FOIR-671457355_FOIR-671457355_1-Accounts_Expenses_for_Resettlement_Employability_Project(_(SIW)_Support.docx