Purpose

See attached ODR for details

Content

To use £249,650 from the Asylum
Dispersal Grant issued to the City Of Doncaster Council by the
Government in April 2024, to resource 3 voluntary and community
sector (VCS) groups to provide vital services that allow people who
are being housed in or allocated to Doncaster by the Government, to
integrate into the wider community as soon as possible.

The groups, CAB-D, Changing Lives and Doncaster Mind already
provide services funded by the Council to the cohort, we are now
looking to expand and develop the early intervention and prevention
work currently provided to further decrease the number of people
presenting to the frontline services of mainstream agencies.

The expansion of provision will also assist the Doncaster
Conversation Club, which is due to close in 2026, to gradually
reduce the work they do in preparation for the delivery of a
newly
designed service in April 2026.

Alternative options considered

1. To stop providing resources to support
Migrant communities

a. People leaving the Asylum system would have no support,
increasing street homelessness and placing additional pressures on
the Council’s frontline services

2. To use the Integration & Partnerships team to provide the
service in house

a. Many people from Migrant communities are afraid to work with
authority figures due to their experiences in their home countries.
The VCS can provide services that act as a bridge between service
users and mainstream services including the Council.

b. The VCS can draw on other sources of funding making their
services more cost
effective.