§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he has taken to assess the additional costs to local government of concentrations of refugees seeking or having been granted asylum. [14963]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordThe Secretary of State for Health has established special grants to help local authorities meet the additional costs they face in respect of asylum-seeking families with children, and in respect of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. He laid before Parliament yesterday a special grant report to establish a new special grant for adult asylum seekers who are not accompanied by children. Local authority social services departments must provide detailed information on costs when submitting claims for any of these grants.
184W
Rent arrears at 31 March 1995 Percentage of rent roll Arrears outstanding at 31 March 1995 for: Empty council homes at 1 April 1995 Percentage of dwellings (£000) Council tax (£000) Community charge (£000) City of London 256 4.2 1— 1— 24 1.1 Camden 8,986 10.7 12,379 22,095 543 1.8 Greenwich 14,984 19.6 6,494 9,737 795 2.5 Hackney 32,675 31.6 4,588 10,470 3,894 9.8 Hammersmith and Fulham 6,553 15.1 6,752 7,186 343 2.1 Islington 16,072 16.0 1— 1— 1,483 4.0 Kensington and Chelsea 2,351 9.4 4,672 5,083 108 1.4 Lambeth 19,491 19.8 40,172 75,423 2,176 5.1 Lewisham 7,482 9.3 1— 1— 1,051 3.0 Southwark 26,160 20.8 10,811 25,290 1,129 2.1 Tower Hamlets 3,987 5.5 4,156 5,437 1,562 4.2 Wandsworth 4,362 6.7 2,091 181 508 2.4 Westminster 3,100 6.0 4,110 67 263 1.7 Barking and Dagenham 942 2.0 1,440 1,558 427 1.6 Barnet 1,401 3.8 6,678 10,281 124 0.9 Bexley 505 2.5 1,679 2,644 139 1.6 Brent 13,750 29.3 8,892 26,035 301 1.8 Bromley 0 0.0 1,963 1,944 5 6.3 Croydon 2,208 4.7 5,392 4,246 265 1.6 Ealing 10,809 19.1 1— 1— 210 1.3 Enfield 4,037 9.9 8,815 8,396 342 2.2 Haringey 20,318 33.4 1— 1— 303 1.5 Harrow 793 3.6 3,595 4,787 108 1.6 Havering 561 2.2 1,506 3,628 219 1.6 Hillingdon 933 2.2 4,857 6,586 159 1.2 Hounslow 2,483 7.1 4,087 15,618 333 2.0 Kingston upon Thames 507 3.0 1— 1— 97 1.7 Merton 1,168 4.5 3,211 4,238 89 0.9 Newham 7,886 13.6 12,052 24,397 735 2.8 Redbridge 1,142 5.0 1— 1— 515 7.6
§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his statement of 3 February,Official Report, columns 681 and 689, concerning special grants to localities most in need of assistance due to concentrations of refugees, what discussions he has had, or intends to have, with representatives of the areas concerned. [14956]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordMinisters from my Department and the Department of Health as well as officials from the Department of Health have met local authority representatives on a number of occasions in recent months to discuss funding for local authorities who are supporting asylum seekers.