Issue - meetings

To consider the attached report of the Head of Finance & Investment and the Head of Transformation.

The Head of Transformation presented the report on the Provision of Interim Housing and Support for Afghan Refugees via the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Programme (ARAP).

Members were informed that the Government had allocated funding to support local authorities in providing interim housing and support services for refugees arriving in the UK via ARAP. The Cabinet had been asked to accept revenue funding from the Home Office for support services and to enter leases for up to 15 properties over three years from the Ministry of Defence (MOD).

The properties would be allocated in line with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ (DLUHC) programme requirements and would be classed as interim (temporary) accommodation with the families occupying them issued with non-secure tenancies. While the families would be able to stay in the properties for the duration of the lease period there was an expectation from the Government that they would move to privately rented accommodation during that time and there was Government funding available to support this outcome.

Members were advised that the conditions on the use of the properties meant that they were only available for use with this scheme for the 3-year period and could not be put to any other sue by the Council. At the end of the lease the properties would revert to the MOD for their use.

A team would be set-up to support the families and it was anticipated that the scheme would add up to 20 new students to Guston Primary School which would support the maintenance of its pupil numbers. Additionally, Guston Primary School had experience of working with Gurkha families from Shorncliffe Barracks and Astor School with migrant families.

Members welcomed the scheme although there was disappointment that the Council would not be able to keep the properties after the end of the lease.

In respect of the Dover Asylum Resettlement Team (DART) of up to 5 people who would support those families settled under ARAP, it was suggested that it would need to have someone who could support the families in matters such as faith, culture, skills and language. The Strategic Director (Corporate and Regulatory) advised that this point would be noted although it was within the remit of the Head of Paid Service as opposed to the Cabinet.

The Chairman asked that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be provided with an update after 18 months on the progress of the scheme and that the community development plan be submitted to a future meeting.

To consider the attached report of the Heads of Finance & Investment and Transformation.

Responsibility: Portfolio Holders for Social Housing, Port Health, Skills & Education and Community & Corporate Property

It was agreed:

(a)  That a project to acquire the lease, refurbish and furnish fifteen Ministry of Defence properties (as affordable rent), under the terms of the Local Authority Housing Fund Programme, be approved.

(b)  That the delivery of a full support package by Dover District Council to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Programme and any other resettlement schemes, and the acceptance of Home Office funding to deliver the schemes, be approved. 

(c)   That it be noted that, if the project is approved, the Head of Paid Service will create the necessary structures and employment roles where applicable to deliver the programmes within the budgets available.

(d)  That the Strategic Director (Finance and Housing) be authorised, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Skills and Education, to take the necessary decisions and actions to progress the project, including (but not limited to) approving and entering into the lease and other legal agreements, appointing any necessary professional advisers, agreeing the budget and contract sum for any works required, awarding the works contract, approving variations to the project sum if required and, if circumstances warrant, cancelling the project.