Content

To enter into a joint contract with Gloucester
City Council for Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum
Seekers (GARAS) to provide Asylum Seeker Support Services across
both Cheltenham and Gloucester.

This contract with GARAS will be for an estimated initial period of
2 years and 4 months, with an anticipated start date from 1st
December 2025 up to 31st March 2028, with options to extend the
contract annually thereafter, up to 31st March 2031.

This decision means that our decision of 23rd September 2025 to
enter into contract with Afghanistan & Central Asian
Association (A&CAA) for the provision of this service has now
been withdrawn. This is on the basis that A&CAA failed to have
sufficient accreditation to meet the requirements of the contract.
A second supplier also failed to meet these accreditation
requirements, with the result that GARAS was the only supplier with
the appropriate level of accreditation at the time of the award of
contract.

Reasons for the decision

The aim of this
service is to:  
·        
Assist asylum seekers with their claims for asylum to ensure they
are treated fairly;
·        
Ensure that asylum seekers can navigate relevant health and
wellbeing services;
·        
Improve English language skills, where needed, so that asylum
seekers are better able to integrate into the communities within
which they have been placed;
·        
Support asylum seekers to feel a part of their communities through
the provision of community development activities.
This is a
partnership arrangement between Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC)
and Gloucester City Council (GCC), with GCC having led on the
procurement of this new service. Funding for this service comes
directly from grant funding received from the Home Office, which is
ringfenced solely for asylum seekers. CBC has committed to fund up
to £75,000/year (including VAT) for the provision of this
service (indexed linked by 2%/year from April 2027).
Cheltenham
Borough Councils funding contribution to the initial contract term
is set out below, including VAT:

Year One

December 2025 - March 2026

£25,000.00 (estimated based on an
assumed 1st December start date)

Year Two

April 2026 – March 2027 (including 2%
uplift)

£75,000.00

Year Three

April 2027-March 2028 (including 2%
uplift)

£76,500.00

CBC will work in close partnership with GCC to monitor the
performance of this contract.

Alternative options considered

None considered. This is a unique opportunity
to work with GCC to provide important services to support asylum
seekers living in Cheltenham and Gloucester. It will also help to
ensure that effective use is being made of the Home Office grant
funding provided to CBC for work done to support asylum
seekers.