Councils demand fresh look at support for asylum seekers

Doors of homes in Middlesbrough have been repainted after criticism that those housing asylum seekers were red

Four Yorkshire authorities feature in the top 30 council areas providing homes for asylum seekers when the size of local populations is taken into account.

Barnsley is home to one asylum seeker for every 560 residents compared to Cornwall which has one for every 545,000 residents and affluent Cheshire East where the figure is one per 374,000.

The Government is now being asked to look at the way companies which hold contracts to house asylum seekers operate.

Barnsley Council leader Sir Steve Houghton stressed his authority’s support for the asylum system but said councils needed more support to deal with the issues raised and for a fairer distribution.

He said: “The distribution of asylum seekers across the country is not fair and balanced. They are clearly concentrating on areas with cheap housing.

“Where you also get large numnbers of economic migrants they tend to come to the same places. We are seeing this in certain wards.

“That has a significant impact, particularly in places like Barnsley which have had very settle for a long time. In a relatively short space of time people see a huge impact and start to ask questions.

“Our problem is there is very little support from the Government and councils are having to try and deal with the impact at a time when we have budget issues and there could be community cohesion issues if we are not careful.”

Rotherham, Sheffield and Bradford also feature in the top 30 authorities housing asylum seekers.

Middlesbrough is the authority providing a home to the most asylum seekers with one for every 173 residents.

Elected mayor Dave Budd said: “It is no secret that Middlesbrough has for some considerable time far exceeded its fair allocation of asylum seekers, and that has been acknowledged by Government.

“Legitimate concerns have been raised in the national press about a number of aspects of what is undoubtedly a highly complex issue, and it is right at this stage that these should be addressed by the Home Office and G4S.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “The UK has a proud history of granting asylum to those who need our protection and we are committed to providing safe and secure accommodation while applications are considered.

“Asylum seekers are housed where there is appropriate accommodation available. Agreements between the Government and participating local authorities are voluntary and have been in place since 2000.

“We review these arrangements regularly and all asylum intake has to be approved by the local authority involved.

“We work closely with local authorities to ensure that the impact of asylum dispersals is considered and acted upon.”