Shropshire could welcome 10 more refugee families to county

Shropshire Council's cabinet will decide whether to resettle the families during 2018/19 at its meeting on Wednesday.

Shropshire Council committed to the resettling of 15 Syrian families, made up of 63 individuals, in the county between June 2016 and March 2017.

The families were resettled in four different locations throughout the county – five in Oswestry, five in Shrewsbury, three in Wem and two in Much Wenlock.

However, one family from Wem opted to move to Birmingham as they had friends and family already settled in this area. This reduced individuals to 59. However there were two births in 2017 with a further two due in 2018 taking the total individuals back up to 63.

The emphasis is on immediate settlement into local communities with no “holding" accommodation.

Many of the individuals are volunteering, and The Job Centre has told Shropshire Council that some are seeking work, but language "continues to be a barrier".

Each adult spends about six hours a week learning English and the children have settled in well to their schools, according to a report due to go to cabinet.

Influx

Shropshire Council received £536,000 in funding for the first year of the resettlement scheme, which was able to fully support the families with no financial impact on the local authority.

The council will also decide whether to assist in the Asylum Dispersal Scheme, in which case a minimum of 25 individuals would be resettled in the county.

The report says of the dispersal scheme: "Given the lack of one-bedroom accommodation and the projected increase in the number of single homeless applicants due to the homeless reduction act there are concerns about how Shropshire would manage an influx of 25 single males along with concerns about the leasing of a large building for the accommodation of the cohort of asylum seekers and the impact this could have on a community."

The report concludes that it would be difficult for the council to engage in both of the schemes, and that Shropshire would not be able to appropriately meet the needs of adult asylum seekers and that due to this they would follow friends and family to larger cities where they can engage with the support they require.

The cabinet meeting will take place at Shirehall on Wednesday at 12.30pm.