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| Migrant crisis: UK council leaders seek more resources | Migrant crisis: UK council leaders seek more resources |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Council leaders have called on the government to provide more resources to help them house extra refugees that the UK is planning to accept. | Council leaders have called on the government to provide more resources to help them house extra refugees that the UK is planning to accept. |
| David Simmons, from the Local Government Association (LGA), said it was important that councils could provide the services refugees expected. | David Simmons, from the Local Government Association (LGA), said it was important that councils could provide the services refugees expected. |
| David Cameron has said the UK will take in "thousands" more Syrian refugees. | David Cameron has said the UK will take in "thousands" more Syrian refugees. |
| Earlier Labour's Yvette Cooper said more than 40 councils were ready to offer sanctuary to those fleeing Syria. | Earlier Labour's Yvette Cooper said more than 40 councils were ready to offer sanctuary to those fleeing Syria. |
| The shadow home secretary and Labour leadership candidate said councils had replied within 24 hours to her request for each to accept 10 families. | The shadow home secretary and Labour leadership candidate said councils had replied within 24 hours to her request for each to accept 10 families. |
| An exact figure on how many people the UK will take in is yet to be decided, but Prime Minister David Cameron made it clear on Friday that the extra refugees would come from camps bordering Syria, and not from among those already in Europe. | An exact figure on how many people the UK will take in is yet to be decided, but Prime Minister David Cameron made it clear on Friday that the extra refugees would come from camps bordering Syria, and not from among those already in Europe. |
| 'Clear on costs' | 'Clear on costs' |
| Councillor David Simmonds, from the LGA's asylum, refugee and migrant task force, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The big challenge is that there's been a lot of well-publicised pressure on our public services, school places, hospital access, housing - in many parts of the country. | Councillor David Simmonds, from the LGA's asylum, refugee and migrant task force, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The big challenge is that there's been a lot of well-publicised pressure on our public services, school places, hospital access, housing - in many parts of the country. |
| "We need to make sure that if people are going to be moved to the UK, that we've a clear idea of what the cost is going to be, to provide the public services that they expect when they come here. | "We need to make sure that if people are going to be moved to the UK, that we've a clear idea of what the cost is going to be, to provide the public services that they expect when they come here. |
| "If we are going to scale those numbers up significantly we need to make sure that those kinds of resources are available to England's councils and also other public services to make sure that we have what is required in terms of school places, hospital beds, GPs that sort of thing." | "If we are going to scale those numbers up significantly we need to make sure that those kinds of resources are available to England's councils and also other public services to make sure that we have what is required in terms of school places, hospital beds, GPs that sort of thing." |
| Mr Simmonds said councils in England were already supporting 2,000 unaccompanied refugee children at a cost of £50,000 each year per child. | Mr Simmonds said councils in England were already supporting 2,000 unaccompanied refugee children at a cost of £50,000 each year per child. |
| A further £150m a year was being spent on destitute families whose asylum applications had been turned down, but who remained in the UK, he said. | A further £150m a year was being spent on destitute families whose asylum applications had been turned down, but who remained in the UK, he said. |
| In other developments: | In other developments: |
| Calls for the UK to take in more refugees have intensified after the publication of a picture of the body of a drowned three-year-old Syrian boy, Alan Kurdi, washed up on a Turkish beach. | Calls for the UK to take in more refugees have intensified after the publication of a picture of the body of a drowned three-year-old Syrian boy, Alan Kurdi, washed up on a Turkish beach. |
| On Friday, during a visit to Portugal and Spain, Mr Cameron said the UK would act with "our head and our heart" on a major expansion of the programme to resettle vulnerable refugees from the camps bordering Syria. | On Friday, during a visit to Portugal and Spain, Mr Cameron said the UK would act with "our head and our heart" on a major expansion of the programme to resettle vulnerable refugees from the camps bordering Syria. |
| He said the scheme would avoid the need for the refugees to make hazardous attempts to cross the Mediterranean into Europe, which has seen thousands die in recent months. | He said the scheme would avoid the need for the refugees to make hazardous attempts to cross the Mediterranean into Europe, which has seen thousands die in recent months. |
| Ms Cooper said it was up to the government to work with local authorities to ensure as many people as possible were helped. | Ms Cooper said it was up to the government to work with local authorities to ensure as many people as possible were helped. |
| She said: "There is a real determination and rising sense of moral purpose across Britain to help desperate families. But now the prime minister needs to match it." | She said: "There is a real determination and rising sense of moral purpose across Britain to help desperate families. But now the prime minister needs to match it." |
| Bill Dixon, leader of Darlington Council, which has pledged to take refugees in, said 10 families was "about the right number for a town the size of Darlington". | |
| He said: "We don't want to flood local services. What we want is to give people, the kind of support it's not just about a roof over their head, although that is important, it's about the kind of networks we've been able in the past to put around these families to support them." | |
| Ms Cooper, who is standing for the Labour leadership alongside Jeremy Corbyn, Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall, also reiterated her plea for the UK to take in 10,000 Syrians. | Ms Cooper, who is standing for the Labour leadership alongside Jeremy Corbyn, Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall, also reiterated her plea for the UK to take in 10,000 Syrians. |
| 'Act of kindness' | |
| Craig Marshall, who lives in Darlington, has volunteered to house a family of refugees. | |
| He said taking in refugees was an "act of kindness" and was "the right thing to do". | |
| "The hard step, if you like, is actually getting them, receiving them and taking them and letting them know they're going to be safe," he said. | |
| Mr Marshall said the response he had received when he said he would take in a family of refugees had been a "50/50" split between positive and negative. | |
| Sir John Holmes, a former British diplomat who was the UN's undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, said the migrant crisis needed a diplomatic solution in Syria. | |
| "We, like many other people, have really got to start making a huge diplomatic effort now to solve these problems in Syria and elsewhere - military action may be part of that, but that's not really going to solve it either." | |
| Meanwhile, International Development Secretary Justine Greening has dismissed the prospect of Britain joining a proposed EU plan to redistribute the 160,000 migrants already in Europe, arguing that it "simply fuels the people smuggling business". | |
| "It's much smarter and safer to help them directly relocate from refugee camps," she added. | |
| How will the plan work? | How will the plan work? |
| Mr Cameron's plan suggests he may expand the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme - though the Home Office said details were not yet available. | Mr Cameron's plan suggests he may expand the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme - though the Home Office said details were not yet available. |
| Under VPR, 216 Syrians have been brought to the UK since March 2014. People arriving in the UK in need of protection usually have to apply for asylum - and if this is granted they get "refugee" status. | Under VPR, 216 Syrians have been brought to the UK since March 2014. People arriving in the UK in need of protection usually have to apply for asylum - and if this is granted they get "refugee" status. |
| But people brought to Britain under VPR have not gone through this process. Instead, they have been granted Humanitarian Protection, a status normally used for people who "don't qualify for asylum" but would be at "real risk of suffering serious harm" in their home country. | But people brought to Britain under VPR have not gone through this process. Instead, they have been granted Humanitarian Protection, a status normally used for people who "don't qualify for asylum" but would be at "real risk of suffering serious harm" in their home country. |
| Like people granted refugee status, those given Humanitarian Protection can stay for five years, after which they can apply to settle in the UK. | Like people granted refugee status, those given Humanitarian Protection can stay for five years, after which they can apply to settle in the UK. |
| People in both categories have the right to work and access public funds. | People in both categories have the right to work and access public funds. |
| Over the past four years nearly 5,000 Syrians have been granted asylum in the UK, Downing Street sources told the BBC. | Over the past four years nearly 5,000 Syrians have been granted asylum in the UK, Downing Street sources told the BBC. |
| However, under the government's official relocation programme, which began early last year, 216 Syrian refugees have been allowed sanctuary in the UK. | However, under the government's official relocation programme, which began early last year, 216 Syrian refugees have been allowed sanctuary in the UK. |
| What is your reaction to this? Are you a Syrian who has been granted asylum in the UK? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your story. | What is your reaction to this? Are you a Syrian who has been granted asylum in the UK? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your story. |
| Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: | Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: |
| Or use the form below | Or use the form below |