MPs have questioned the rationale behind Government cuts to funding for refugees.
The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee yesterday pressed ministers over what assessments had been made before reducing the funding from £10,500 per person to £5,900, leaving councils to pick up any shortfall.
Former shadow local government minister Kate Hollern said: ‘We seem to be constantly passing responsibility onto them [councils] with bigger financial burden and less support.’
However, housing minister Felicity Buchan insisted the new package had been ‘well received’ by the sector.
She continued: ‘We are asking local authorities to take quite a lot of decisions but we think that’s in the interest of the communities.
‘We have to get the balance right between the money the Treasury is spending and the resources needed on the ground.’
Ms Buchan told the committee ‘we did make an assessment of how much money we thought was required’ but she was unable to provide details to the committee, adding that ‘there’s no perfect formula’.
Despite the cuts to the tariff, the Government has provided a one-off pot worth £150m to tackle homelessness and a £500m fund to provide up to 4,000 homes by 2024, including housing for Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.
The committee heard that homes would pass to general housing stock after refugees have returned to Ukraine.
Ms Buchan also confirmed the Government was no longer looking at aligning the Homes for Ukraine and family visa schemes.
The funding tariff only applies to arrivals under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
This article was originally published by The MJ (£).
