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Home Office

Answer

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what grounds and when Grimsby was designated a cluster area for the reception of asylum seekers; and if he will set out the consequences of this designation. [159746] Mrs. Roche: The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) consulted all regional consortiums to identify suitable cluster areas for the accommodation of asylum seekers before Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 came into force. As part of this consultation process NASS sought the views of the Yorkshire and Humberside regional consortium, of which Grimsby is part. The consortiums provided a list of towns and cities that were considered suitable to accommodate asylum seekers and the list from the Yorkshire and Humberside regional consortium included Grimsby. Grimsby has been designated as a cluster area since 3 April 2000, when the new support arrangements came into force. Designation as a cluster area means that an area is deemed suitable to send asylum seekers under the dispersal arrangements operated by the National Asylum Support Service. Further, schools with asylum seeking children dispersed to the area by NASS on their registers were able in the last financial year 2000-01 to apply for additional grant of up to £500 per pupil. This grant could be used to assist the child to settle quickly into school. In addition the grant to the local authority is based on the standard spending assessment which takes account of rises in the local population.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

159746; 367 c679-80W

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Asylum Location Refugees Temporary accommodation Grimsby

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk