Agenda item

            (Ms. N. Lane, Neighbourhood Services Manager, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Director of Neighbourhood Services advised the Committee that the TEO had asked for Councils to submit urgent proposals, at very short notice and lead in time, for projects to support asylum seekers, which would be funded by the TEO through Home Office Dispersal Funding.  The Councils had been asked to submit proposals based on spend up to the end of March 2023 and for spend covering the following financial year 2023/24.

            He continued that, given the immediacy of the request from the TEO and the extremely tight deadline, officers had held initial discussions with the main organisations that currently delivered projects of scale to asylum seekers.

            The Members were reminded that, in previous submissions to the TEO, the Council had highlighted the considerable pressure that these organisations were under due to the increase in numbers of asylum seekers to Northern Ireland and the many varied demands on the service.

            He reported that initial funding proposals had been submitted to the TEO in mid-December, with the TEO advising that Councils would receive notification and documentation regarding the proposals pre-Christmas, however, officers had subsequently been advised on 23rd January that the proposals had been approved by the TEO.

            The TEO had indicated that it would provide the Council with initial written correspondence confirming approval for Council spend in-year (up until March 2023) based on the following proposals.

Proposals submitted to and approved by TEO for Asylum Support Funding

*2023/24 indicative project delivery costs.

            Several Members expressed concern at the tight timescale for the roll out of this funding, which, in essence, had prevented other smaller organisations who might also have been suitable to deliver the funding having been prohibited from being considered as the process could not be put out to an open call procurement process.

            The Neighbourhood Services Manager acknowledged the issues and Members concerns.  She explained that officers had only two weeks to submit proposals for consideration to the TEO and, based on the urgency of this request, the proposals had not therefore been subjected to a procurement process but had been accepted by the TEO as eligible for Dispersal Funding.  She advised that officers were currently seeking confirmation from the TEO in relation to the conditions of funding and whether this could be progressed as a direct funding agreement arrangement based on the agreed programme.  In addition, as some of the proposals involved the recruitment of specialist staff, therefore, it would not have been feasible to go out to procurement if the spend was to happen in the current financial year.

            A Member stated that he understood the time pressures but in future would appreciate the Members being advised as soon as officers became aware of the potential for funding becoming available, rather than at this late stage.

            The Members also asked to see the Memorandum of Understanding once it was available.

            A Member referred to the recent deputation at the January meeting of Council from End Deportations Belfast and Faith Voices for Reproductive Justice meeting in relation to their ongoing campaign regarding the living conditions of pregnant asylum seekers and refugees and he asked that the Committee agree to write to the Home Office and the Executive Office, calling for the end to the detention of pregnant asylum seekers and refugees at Larne House detention centre and furthermore advocate for the closure of Larne House with a change in focus towards alternatives to detention for refugees and asylum seekers.

            The Committee:

·        agreed the proposed approach to supporting asylum seekers within the city as set out in the report and approved by TEO;

·        agreed that once correspondence had been provided by TEO, in relation to confirming the allocation of funding for Belfast, that the Council go at risk to commence the programme of support until a formal Memorandum of Understanding (funding agreement) had been issued covering the current and next financial year;

·        agreed the appropriate approach to the allocation of the funding to the delivery partners to implement the programme and that this be considered as a direct funding agreement arrangement;

·        noted that TEO had also agreed that, as part of the funding, the Council would support a Cultural Competence and Unconscious Bias Programme and receive project management and coordination costs; and

·        agreed to write to the Home Office and the Executive Office, calling for the end to the detention of pregnant asylum seekers and refugees at Larne House detention centre and furthermore advocate for the closure of Larne House with a change in focus towards alternatives to detention for refugees and asylum seekers.