Mark Whitehead 15 September 2015

Council leaders set up 'one-stop' web page to help with refugee crisis

Local authority leaders have created a special web page to deal with a flood of enquiries about how to help refugees fleeing from the Middle East.

It follows a meeting last week with home secretary Theresa May and communities secretary Greg Clark to thrash out a response to the crisis.

The ‘one-stop resource’ on the Local Government Assocation’s website gives information for councils on the network of 10 new regional partnerships set up to deal with offers of help.

It also tells the public who to contact if they want to offer accommodation.

Other information includes an outline of what the Government has announced so far to deal with the refugees and how the resettlement scheme will work.

The site says the LGA has agreed to coordinate offers from councils through regional strategic migration partnerships to compile a central record.

It says: ‘It would be useful to get a sense of numbers of the adults, children or families you may be able to take given your local circumstances.’

Meanwhile the Government has appointed Watford MP Richard Harrington to coordinate resettlement of Syrian refugees across Whitehall departments.

Last week prime minister David Cameron said Britain would accept 20,000 refugees over the next five years.

A study of 170 local authorities by King's College London found evidence that property prices fall when immigrants move in.

It says a 1% rise in the number of migrants in a community causes a 1.7% fall in property prices and the effect is more acute when the immigrants have lower levels of education.

Skills Pipelines: What local government needs to know image

Skills Pipelines: What local government needs to know

Councils and mayors are to be handed a central role in developing skills pipelines for local industries, as the Government unveils what it calls a ‘fundamental change’ to the education system aimed at tackling youth unemployment. Here's what council leaders and officers need to know.
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