£900,000 contract to run Shropshire refugee service

The current contract for the service is set to expire in September, and now the council is asking organisations interested in running the service to get in touch.

Money for the contract comes from the government.

The authority has previously been commended for its work in providing a safe environment for refugees.

A tender document published by the council sets out the criteria for the next contract, which will run until September 2019.

The document states: "Shropshire Council currently holds a contract for refugee services with an existing provider which expires on September 30. However the council has further funding for these services and now wishes to appoint a provider for a combined Syrian Refugee Resettlement and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) service from October 1 when the next Syrian families are now due to arrive.

"At the moment funding is available for the resettlement and support of 10 Syrian families in Shropshire to September 30, 2019, and for the UASC service to March 31. There are at present 29 UAS children in Shropshire, not all of whom are supported at any one time, however any or all these children may call on the service for support during the period of the contract.

"The council may obtain further funding for both aspects of the service beyond these dates and ultimately extend the contract up to September 31, 2021, however this is not guaranteed at the present time and the council would negotiate future costs with the appointed provider in the event that the contract is extended."

Earlier this year the council said it would be welcoming another ten families but would not be taking in individual asylum seekers.

Settled

The authority took in 15 Syrian families, made up of 63 individuals, between June 2016 and March 2017 under the Government's Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. One family has since moved to Birmingham.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting in April Shropshire Councillor Dean Carroll said the Syrian families had settled “extremely well” in Shropshire.

“We already have the infrastructure and experience in place now to cope with more families," he added.

Only people deemed most at risk in Syria are brought to the UK under the scheme, which sees refugees settled around the country with the help of councils, such as Shropshire, that have volunteered to take part.

The current families have been resettled in four different locations throughout the county – five in Oswestry, five in Shrewsbury, three in Wem and two in Much Wenlock.

The move of the family from Wem to Birmingham saw the number of refugees in Shropshire drop to 59, however there were two births in 2017 and two more are due in 2018 - taking the total back up to 63.

Under the resettlement scheme the emphasis is on immediate settlement into local communities with no holding accommodation. Around 500 volunteers have helped support the families, with groups set up in both Oswestry and Shrewsbury.