The Member of Parliament for Burton and Uttoxeter, Kate Kniveton, has welcomed local council leaders to Westminster today (22nd February 2023) to join her in a meeting with the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, to discuss the Home Office’s current asylum dispersal policies towards asylum-seekers in Burton.
The Burton MP secured a meeting with the Secretary of State following a number of concerns in Burton about the existing system not working for local authority leaders. Staffordshire County Council was represented by Council Leader, Cllr Alan White, and County’s Chief Executive Officer, John Henderson, and also in attendance was Cllr George Allen, Council Leader of East Staffordshire Borough Council and its Chief Executive Officer, Andy O’Brien.
The purpose of the meeting was for the local leaders to suggest better ways of working to achieve a fairer share of accommodating asylum-seekers in the area. The council leaders highlighted to the Home Secretary that the challenge of the existing policy, of applying an arithmetic solution to a complex problem, results in rural areas having a much harder job of sourcing accommodation compared to urban areas where the amount of accommodation available is likely to be higher.
Burton’s public representatives also called for more involvement in the procurement of accommodation to also avoid an inefficient process of local hotels or houses being identified by asylum services, only to be found as unworkable when local factors are identified some weeks later.
Commenting, Kate Kniveton MP said:
“I was pleased to meet with the Home Secretary today and for her to be able to hear the local concerns that I, and local council leaders, have about the existing allocation of asylum accommodation in our area.
“We should be proud of the work that we do to ensure that those seeking refuge, whether that be recent examples of Ukraine, Syria or Afghanistan, have sanctuary from war and famine. But that goodwill cannot be exploited or abused by those who seek to undermine the asylum-system.
“The Prime Minister has my full support in making stopping the boats an absolute priority for this Government and ending the use of hotels to house asylum seekers. However, the current situation with many local hotels being booked up, is unacceptable and as we raised with the Home Secretary today, unsustainable.
“I am grateful to the Home Secretary for listening to our concerns and I look forward to seeing further action on this matter, providing a greater degree of fairness to our area and our residents.”
Cllr. Alan White, Leader of Staffordshire County Council, said:
“We have a long and proud history of welcoming people fleeing war and persecution, and we have a duty to ensure those seeking asylum have access to the support and services they need.
“Therefore, we need more notice so that the provision of appropriate help is better planned and prepared for, and we urgently need more collaboration and support from both the Home Office and Serco on these matters.
“The current situation is putting a significant strain on our resources, those of our partners in the district and borough councils, and health services. It is also creating tensions within our communities.”
