Title

WHITEHALL

LGA lobbies Patel on asylum pressures

Senior councillors have written to ministers expressing their concerns about the resettlement of Afghan refugees.

Senior councillors have written to ministers expressing their concerns about the resettlement of Afghan refugees.

The Local Government Association (LGA) is understood to have written to home secretary Priti Patel about asylum pressures.

It has asked for ways to widen dispersal, funding for councils to cover the real cost and options to tackle the shortage of appropriate accommodation.

Chair of the LGA's asylum, refugee and migration taskforce, Cllr Nick Forbes, said he was ‘seeking an urgent conversation with ministers' about pressures on the sector.

Cllr Forbes called for a ‘jointly managed, locally driven process' for reducing hotel use and moving asylum seekers into communities to be ‘urgently' developed.

He added: ‘A lack of funding to meet councils' costs remains a disincentive to participating in the voluntary dispersal scheme, particularly at a time when local authorities are facing significant budget pressures.'

Councils have offered hundreds of properties to support the resettlement and relocation of Afghan citizens and their families but sector insiders have complained about the time taken to match available accommodation with asylum seekers due to ‘ropey data'.

The LGA is believed to be keeping a list of accommodation offered by councils that the Government has failed to utilise.

One lead officer for refugee resettlement said: ‘The Home Office promised they would match families with available accommodation within 48 hours but that isn't happening.

'It's just ground to wading through treacle.

'It's not good that these people are spending a long time in bridging accommodation.

‘The Home Office recently did an audit of the occupants of the bridging hotels but they haven't shared the results with us.

'They want to be in control.

'We struggle to get answers out of them.

‘Empty properties are a risk.

'We do not want to have properties sitting empty so we're not taking properties as fast as we could do.

'We've scaled back a little bit in how we're procuring properties.'

The officer added: ‘We've said to the Home Office don't do it like this.

'It's very frustrating.

'They're literally making it up as they go along.'

A Government spokesperson said there was a 'huge effort underway to get families into permanent homes so they can settle and rebuild their lives' but stressed the accommodation offered 'must meet the needs of those being resettled'.

WHITEHALL

Dear secretary of state - part 1

By Dr Simon Kaye | 30 September 2025

Secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, Steve Reed, has a lot on his plate since assuming the role last month. Here, Re:State’s Sim...

WHITEHALL

From consultation to co-creation

By Andy Clarke | 29 September 2025

Andy Clarke explains how Growing Talent Morley is inspiring the next generation of place-makers.

WHITEHALL

Labour looks local

By Cllr Bev Craig | 26 September 2025

As Labour delegates prepare to head to the party conference in Liverpool, Cllr Bev Craig outlines the key reforms impacting local government and signals a re...

WHITEHALL

Move to transfer Surrey assets ahead of reorganisation

By By Paul Marinko | 25 September 2025

Surrey districts are moving to transfer community assets to parish councils and community groups so their future is secured ahead of local government reorgan...

Dan Peters

Popular articles by Dan Peters