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UK councils call for more money to support extra refugees UK councils call for extra cash to support refugees as volunteers step up
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David Cameron must make resources available to support essential public services if Britain is to open its doors to more Syrian refugees, council leaders have said. Frontline public services will need extra funding if Britain takes in more Syrian refugees, David Cameron has been warned, as a wave of volunteer action sweeps across the UK in response to the crisis.
In the face of intense domestic and international pressure, the prime minister announced on Friday that the UK would resettle thousands more people from the refugee camps in the countries bordering Syria. The prime minister bowed to intense political pressure and announced on Friday that Britain would resettle thousands more refugees from the camps bordering the war-ravaged country.
The Labour leadership contender Yvette Cooper said 40 councils had already responded to her appeal to offer sanctuary to people fleeing the country’s bloody civil war. But as a convoy of 20 cars loaded with emergency supplies headed for Calais, the Local Government Association (LGA) said significant sums were already being spent supporting refugees in Britain.
However, the Local Government Association (LGA) said significant sums were already being spent supporting refugees in the UK and that additional funding from Whitehall would be needed.
Related: Germany prepares for up to 10,000 refugee arrivals - live updatesRelated: Germany prepares for up to 10,000 refugee arrivals - live updates
David Simmonds, of the LGA’s asylum, refugee and migrant taskforce, said councils in England were taking 2,000 unaccompanied refugee children a year at a cost of £50,000 per child. A further £150m was being spent annually on destitute families who had had their asylum applications turned down but remained in the UK. David Simmonds, of the LGA’s asylum, refugee and migrant taskforce, said English councils were already taking 2,000 unaccompanied refugee children a year at a cost of £50,000 per child. A further £150m a year was being spent supporting destitute families whose asylum applications have been turned down.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “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.” He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “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 we have what is required in terms of school places, hospital beds, GPs, that sort of thing.”
He said councils would welcome it if other families followed the example of Bob Geldof, who has offered to put up four refugee families at his homes in Kent and London. But he suggested the priority would be to place refugees who were already in the UK rather than those awaiting resettlement from the camps. Simmonds said councils would be delighted by any families who follow Bob Geldof’s example and offer to put up refugees in their homes. But he suggested that the priority would be to rehouse families already in the UK, rather than those who are to be resettled from the camps bordering Syria.
Simmonds said: “I am sure that many local councils would be delighted if those who have got space are making that offer, because I am sure we could offer those places to some of the refugee families who are already in the UK.” Related: Aid group urges Britons not to drive to Calais after convoy situation
Cooper, who earlier this week called for the UK to take 10,000 refugees, said local authorities had shown a “rising sense of moral purpose” and it was now up to the government to respond. The Labour leadership candidate Yvette Cooper said 40 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales had answered her call for more places for refugees within 24 hours. She said: “There is a real determination and a rising sense of moral purpose across Britain to help desperate families. But now the prime minister needs to match it.”
The shadow home secretary said that, within 24 hours of asking councils in England, Scotland and Wales if they would be prepared to help provide places for refugees, more than 40 had offered support. That rising sense of moral purpose was matched by a groundswell in public action, as people across the UK arranged to take vital supplies of food, clothing and shelter to the thousands who have been forced to flee conflict in the Middle East and Africa.
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.” Maz Saleem, who helped organise the Calais convoy with the Stand Up To Racism group, said she was appalled by what she called the government’s negative attitude towards the crisis.
Cameron said the UK would act with “our head and our heart” in expanding an existing programme to resettle vulnerable refugees from the camps bordering Syria. She said: “I think it’s disgraceful the way David Cameron has made out that people are coming over here to get benefits, when actually they are fleeing war and persecution.”
Critics pointed out that his statement said nothing about helping the tens of thousands who have entered the EU and were struggling to make their way across the continent in the hope of claiming asylum in the wealthier northern nations. Related: Refugee crisis: the UK local government response so far
A Populus poll of 1,689 people, reported in the Times, suggested the country was divided over the right response to the crisis. A narrow majority of 51% said they did not believe the government needed to go any further. Several small groups have taken it upon themselves to gather supplies to take to the French port, including one from the Al’Burrito bar in Southsea, Hampshire, which has collected enough donations to fill six vans.
So far, just 216 Syrians have been admitted to the UK under the scheme to help the most vulnerable people in refugee camps, while a further 5,000 have been granted asylum over the past four years. Meanwhile, a team of people have got together to collect the tents that will be left behind by revellers at next weekend’s Bestival on the Isle of Wight, to be taken to Calais.
Football fans will be showing their support by making donations and waving banners saying “Refugees Welcome” at upcoming matches, while Dulwich Hamlet supporters’ trust is collecting food, clothing and camping supplies at the club’s game on Saturday.