Purpose

Proposed decision
–
 
The Leader of the Council:
 

Approve the acceptance of Home
Office grant funding for the Afghan Resettlement Schemes (ARAP and
ACRS) and the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) and to
determine the appropriate delivery model.

2.   
Agree to Kent County Council continuing
to be the ‘Lead Recipient’ for the Home Office grant
for all districts in Kent with the exception
of Ashford, Canterbury and individuals resettled to the
Ministry of Defence and Local Authority Housing Fund properties in
Dover. 
 
 
 
 
 
Background
 
Following a meeting of Kent
Leaders on 23 September 2015 and KCC on 22 October 2015 it was
proposed that KCC would work with district housing leads to
determine the best way to set up the Vulnerable Persons
Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) in Kent. It was subsequently agreed that
KCC should co-ordinate a service in partnership with those
districts that wished to take part. At the time, this involved all
the districts in Kent with the exception
of Ashford and Canterbury who manage their own schemes.
Since then, KCC’s Refugee Resettlement Team and the Kent
housing authorities have been working in partnership to resettle
refugees through a number of government
schemes and programmes including the following:
 
·      
Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS)
(2015 – 2021) In early 2021 the number of
individuals resettled under the VPRS nationally exceeded 20,000,
the original target for 2020. It has helped those in the greatest
need, including people requiring urgent medical treatment,
survivors of violence and torture, and women and children at risk.
Although the VPRS officially ended in 2021, it merged seamlessly
into the UKRS, an almost identical scheme to the VPRS but which
resettles refugees from anywhere in the world. Legacy cases are
still being supported by the programme.
 
·      
The UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) which started in March 2021.  Its
purpose is to resettle vulnerable refugees in need of protection
from a range of regions of conflict and instability across the
globe. This scheme replaced the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement
Scheme and was intended for use by any refugee group identified by
UNHCR requiring resettlement and fulfilling the criteria of the
scheme.  Numbers resettled under this
scheme are based on local authority capacity.
 
·      
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS),
opened in January 2022, and aimed to resettle more
than 5,000 people in the first year and up to 20,000 over the
coming years.  The scheme
prioritises:
 
o  
Those who have assisted the UK efforts in
Afghanistan and stood up for values such as democracy,
women’s rights, freedom of speech and rule of law.
o  
Vulnerable people, including women and girls at
risk, and members of minority groups at risk (including ethnic and
religious minorities and LGBTQ+)
The scheme has three
pathways.
·      
The Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP),
which launched on 1 April 2021, for Afghan citizens
who worked for or with the UK Government in Afghanistan in exposed
or meaningful roles and deemed eligible by the Ministry of Defence
for relocation to the UK and deemed suitable for relocation by the
Home Office.
 
·      
Community Sponsorship Scheme (2016-) KCC’s Refugee Resettlement Team give approval, advice, and
guidance only.
 
The Homes for Ukraine Scheme is
currently delivered by a separate team in Kent County
Council.
 
The housing authorities are
responsible for deciding on the number of families to be resettled
in their areas and on whether specific properties meet the
statutory requirements. In ten of the twelve districts, KCC then
provides coordination and liaison with the Government resettlement
team and also commissions and oversees
the resettlement and integration support from three commissioned
providers and more recently provide specialist targeted
support in areas such as housing, ESOL and complex
cases.  The two
exceptions are Ashford and Canterbury who provide the support from
within their own housing and community teams.
 
Dover District Council (DDC)
deliver the Afghan schemes to families in Dover matched to the
Ministry of Defence properties they are leasing and their Local
Authority Housing Fund properties. KCC continue to coordinate the
delivery of the resettlement schemes to all other families in
Dover.
 
Resettlement support should be
provided to support families to move towards independence.
Beneficiaries receive intensive support for the first 12-months
after their arrival in the UK, through the provision of initial
reception arrangements, and access to accommodation, casework
support, education (incl. language skills), health care, and social
care.  Support at a lower level is
extended for Refugees for up to five years after first arrival in
the UK for those arriving under the UKRS scheme and up to 3 years
for those arriving under the Afghan schemes.All the schemes allow
those eligible to bring their immediate family with them
and also confer full rights to work,
study, rent, claim benefits and other public funds.
 
Requirements around provision
of accommodation, support and resettlement outcomes are set out in
Home Office Funding Instructions issued annually. 
 
All the above schemes operate
on a self-financing basis using ring-fenced funding received from
Government which means that they do not rely on direct KCC
financial support. Financially, the programme therefore aims to be
cost neutral.
 
As a result of the recent
General Election, we have a new ministerial team and we may see some change in
policy.
 
 
Options (other
options considered but discarded)
 
1)   
Do Nothing. The current contracts will end on the
31stJanuary 2025 and alternative provision for the
existing refugee families will have to be sought until their time
on the schemes comes to an end. If not, there is a risk of
particularly vulnerable families who are not yet integrated,
independent or self-sufficient falling through the net, becoming an
added burden to local services.
 
Resettlement through
‘safe and legal’ routes continues to be a critical tool
for refugees who face specific or urgent risks. Given the national
expectation that all regions will contribute, it is anticipated
that activity to support refugees will be a significant long-term
area of work and focus for the Kent County Council and the
District/Borough Councils going forward.
 
2)   
Recommission using the existing multiple provider
commissioning model. The review of our current service delivery
highlighted the disadvantages of using multiple commissioned
providers to deliver the programme.
 
Each delivery model option was
assessed using the same set criteria. The criteria and weighting
were developed in relation to the scheme criteria, review of the
current delivery model, consultation on our delivery model with key
stakeholders, review of other refugee resettlement delivery models
and analysis of key risks. This delivery model option scored the
least against the assessment criteria and so was
discounted.
 
How the proposed decision supports
the
Framing Kent's Future - Our Council Strategy
2022-2026
 
The proposed decision supports
the key priority ‘Infrastructure for communities’
within the ‘Framing Kent’s Future (2022-26)’,
under which is states that we will ‘continue to coordinate
Government-sponsored refugee resettlement programmes including
those for Syrian, Afghan
and
Ukrainian nationals and support them to settle into Kent’s
communities’.
 
How the proposed
decision supports Securing Kent’s Future 2022 -2026:

Securing Kents Future - Budget
Recovery Strategy.pdf
 
The proposed decision in
compliant with and supports the ‘Securing Kent’s Future
- Budget Recovery Strategy’. Financially, the programme aims
to be cost neutral.All the schemes operate on a self-financing
basis using ring-fenced funding received from Government which
means that they do not rely on direct KCC financial support. There
is no call on KCC or district main budgets and to date (since the
beginning of the scheme in Kent in December 2015) spending on the
scheme has not exceeded the available funds. It appears in the KCC
Budget as a “net nil” budget.
 
A key requirement of either an
in-house or recommissioned service is that it would need to provide
value for money, maximising the impact of each pound spent to meet
required outcomes for service users.
 
Financial
Implications
 
KCC receives grant funding from
the Home Office to cover all costs associated with the Refugee
Resettlement Programme.The funding for both the UKRS and the two
Afghan schemes is essentially the same, except for the fact that
the UKRS funding is spread over five years whereas for the ARAP and
ACRS schemes it is spread over 3 years. Funding is therefore phased
over a 3 to 5 year period as each
refugee family arrives in the UK and is settled in Kent.
 
The level of funding for the
schemes has remained fairly consistent
over the past few years. However, the level of overall funding for
the programme is dependent on our ability to secure suitable
properties and local authorities’ acceptance of new refugee
families. Funding is paid on a per person basis, therefore the
amount of funding available to the refugee resettlement programme
is based on the number of people that arrive. Funding is only paid
on arrival, and so if people do not arrive at the expected rates or
properties are not available, the flow of funding is disrupted (or
could stop completely).
 
Due to the uncertainty
surrounding how many families will be resettled, it is very
difficult to predict the future funding of the programme (if
funding pauses or stops, the budget will gradually
deplete).
 
The value of the grant funding
for 2025 - 2026 (based on existing families and expected arrivals)
is likely to be in the region of £1.1 – £1.9
million, with the possibility of an increased value of about
£0.26 million for every five new
families resettled.
 
Under a recommissioned model,
payments would be made based on the number of actual families
accommodated. This structure of payments will help to mitigate the
risk of paying for suspension of arrivals.
 
If the delivery of all elements
of the service are moved in-house, increased staffing commitments
will bring associated cost risks in relation to redundancy.
Staffing levels will need to flex up and down in line with the
service requirements.
 
The Home Office grant is
subject to claw back if it is not spent in accordance with the
grant terms and conditions.
 
Legal
Implications  
 
Those arriving on the schemes
are granted long-term immigration status upon arrival and have
permission to work and entitlement to mainstream statutory services
and support. The funding for the schemes is in respect of Local
Authority’s cost in fulfilling its statutory duties.
Funding provided must not be used for any purpose
other than achieving delivery of the schemes outcomes as detailed
in the Funding Instructions.
 
The Council owes a number of existing legal duties to arriving adults
and children. These duties exist pursuant to a number of pieces of legislation that apply to
Children and Adults.
 
If the service is
recommissioned, the procurement process will adhere to The Public
Contract Regulations (PCR) 2015 and Kent County Councils
own Procurement Policy ‘Spending
the Council’s Money’.
Legal advice on The Transfer of Undertakings
Protection of Employment (TUPE) has been sought.
   
Equalities
implications
 
The basis of the scheme
(bringing vulnerable refugees to resettle in the UK), settling them
in specific locations that, as far as possible, reflect their needs
and, further, the way the scheme operates in Kent to assess and
meet individual needs (many of which are based on the protected
characteristics) means that the equality needs of individual are
met in as thorough way as possible. The service delivery model will
take account of these needs, experience to date managing the scheme
and consultation with refugees and partners.
 
The equalities impact
assessment indicates there will be potential impacts but that these
are minimal, and sufficiently off-set by
mitigation. 
 
The EQIA shall be kept under
constant review and updated in relation to the delivery model being
implemented.
 
Data Protection
implications
 
DPIAs will be completed
alongside a successful recommissioning process or on implementation
of an in-house model.
 

Decision

As the Leader of the Council, I:
 
1.       Approve the
acceptance of Home Office grant funding for the Afghan Resettlement
Schemes (ARAP and ACRS) and the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme
(UKRS) and to determine the appropriate delivery model.
 
2.       Agree to Kent County
Council continuing to be the ‘Lead Recipient’ for the
Home Office grant for all districts in Kent with the exception of
Ashford, Canterbury and individuals resettled to the Ministry of
Defence and Local Authority Housing Fund properties in
Dover. 
 
3.            Approve that the Afghan
Resettlement Schemes (ARAP and ACRS) and the United  
   
Kingdom Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) be delivered based on the
preferred option (recommission using a new commissioning delivery
model).
 
4.           Delegate authority to the Chief
Executive Officer, in consultation with the Leader to take relevant
actions, including but not limited to, entering into the relevant
contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary, to implement the
decision.