“We call on Swale Borough Council to offer more help to refugees living in awful conditions on our doorstop in Calais and Dunkirk.  We believe that Swale’s current offer to help only 10 Syrian refugee families in five years is totally inadequate”.  

Janice Lowe, Chair of the Faversham and Villages Refugee Solidarity Group, spoke in support of the petition which had been signed by over 1500 people, and urged the Council to act on its commitment and to bring more than 10 families to Swale to comfort and safety.  The petition said “We call on Swale Borough Council to offer more help to refugees living in awful conditions on our doorstop in Calais and Dunkirk.  We believe that Swale’s current offer to help only 10 Syrian refugee families in five years is totally inadequate”.   

Janice Lowe asked the Council to do more, and in doing so, she referred to the Council’s commitment to house 10 families, and that only two families had been housed so far. She read out a letter from the Syrian Fire Brigade to the London Fire Brigade.

The Leader responded by thanking Janice Lowe for her petition and for continuing to highlight the problem.  It was unfortunately proving difficult to house 10 families, but he was determined that the figure would be achieved.  The Government had many different schemes, and Kent had housed the highest number, which was a strain on resources but a solution needed to be found.

The Leader of the UKIP Group drew attention to the wording of the petition, and advised that he had agreed with Government policy of going to camps in Syria, Iraq and Turkey, etc. to collect refugees, but not France.

The Leader of the Labour Group referred to the wording of the petition to help Syrian refugees, and referred to the UK’s reputation of tolerance and helping people who were suffering.  He appreciated it was difficult to find housing, but advised that 13 families had been housed in Ashford, and the Council should do more in terms of publicity and communication with estate agents and private sector landlords.

The Leader of the Independent Group spoke in support of the petition, referring to the 2 million Syrians that had been displaced and encouraged the Council to do more to help.  He proposed  “That we ask the Council Leader for the strongest leadership possible to promote fully and widely, right around Swale, to seek suitable housing for at least 10 households, and to provide any modest additional funding”.  This was seconded by the Leader of the Labour Group.

The Cabinet Member advised that they had been working hard to house 10 families, and so far two families had been housed.  He suggested that concerned residents should contact Kent County Council fostering direct if they were able to help.

The Leader spoke to the motion, referring to the difficulty he would have in supporting it given the proposed budget commitment, when there had been no consideration of the financial implications, and questioned where this amount would be found within the budget.  He referred to comments made about lack of awareness from landlords etc. and welcomed feedback from Members on this, as much work had been undertaken to engage with them.

The Leader of the Independent Group clarified that he estimated the budget implications to be £25k.  After discussion, the proposer and seconder agreed to amend the Motion to remove reference to the provision of modest additional funding.  The Motion was put to the vote and agreed.

Resolved:

(1) That we ask the Council Leader for the strongest leadership possible to promote fully and widely, right around Swale, to seek suitable housing for at least 10 households.