Minutes:
The Council had before it a Notice of Motion set out in the agenda papers standing in the names of Cllr Richard Udall, Cllr Lynn Denham, Cllr Dan Boatright, and Cllr Mel Allcott.
The motion was moved by Cllr Mel Allcott and seconded by Cllr Lynn Denham who both spoke in favour of it, and Council agreed to deal with it on the day.
The following amendment was moved by Cllr Matt Dormer and seconded by Cllr Simon Geraghty:
“Council is concerned about the growing humanitarian and refugee crisis after the recent collapse of the government in Afghanistan.
Council welcomes the call to do all it can to aid the resettlement of Afghan refugees and to co-ordinate assistance, help and support for any Afghan refugees coming to Worcestershire by working with our district partners, and also voluntary community sector groups. This engagement has already started.”
In the ensuing debate, the following points were made:
· The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Communities considered that the original motion did not make sufficient reference to partnership working. Under the UK Resettlement Scheme, the Council had committed to resettling a further 50 people over the next 12 months. This Scheme was a 5 year programme with a greater emphasis on language development and work training. Under the Afghan Relocation Strategy ,the Council had committed to resettling 30 families. It was important to note that under this scheme, individuals had a good understanding of the English language and were not refugees. The scheme was only expected to last a year. Under the new Afghan Resettlement scheme, the Government had committed to resettling 25k people over the next 5 years of which this Council had committed to 200 individuals over that period. Details of the scheme were awaited. Appropriate and suitable properties for long term use were being sourced throughout the county for all these schemes. A resettlement team was in place to co-ordinate the provision of housing and other resettlement requirements. He also paid tribute to the work of the volunteers supporting the welcome groups
· The Leader of the Council paid tribute to the partnership working with district councils, housing associations and community groups under these resettlement schemes. It was intended to build on the work already undertaken to support Syrian refugees to support these initiatives. The Council had a good track record in this area working as One Worcestershire and would continue to co-operate with partner organisations
· Tribute was paid to the work of the voluntary sector in the Bromsgrove and Redditch districts. Donations were still required for a number of essential items. The main limiting factor was availability of properties because the Government did not want to draw down from social housing. It was hoped that housing would be provided from within the private sector
· Everything possible must be done to support these refugees which included unaccompanied children. Worcestershire should become a county of sanctuary for refugees
· Whilst the reference to partnership working in the amendment was welcomed, the reference in the original motion to communication had unfortunately been removed. There was a lack of information about how the voluntary sector would be supported and how the arrangements would be co-ordinated
· The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Communities indicated that he was willing to provide updates to Council on a regular basis. The key issue was that all partners worked on a collaborative basis.
On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried and put as the substantive motion which was agreed unanimously.
RESOLVED: “Council is concerned about the growing humanitarian and refugee crisis after the recent collapse of the government in Afghanistan.
Council welcomes the call to do all it can to aid the resettlement of Afghan refugees and to co-ordinate assistance, help and support for any Afghan refugees coming to Worcestershire by working with our district partners, and also voluntary community sector groups. This engagement has already started.”