Syrian Refugees: Settlement in the UK
Debate between Baroness Walmsley and Lord Bates(9 years ago)
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Lord Bates
That, of course, was one of the big pressures. There is now in place the Kent dispersal scheme, for which Richard Harrington is responsible: rather than people being concentrated in a given local authority area, they are redistributed nationally. So far, 55 local authorities have signed up to that scheme, through which they can receive unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Baroness Walmsley
My Lords, will the Minister note the activities of Siemens in Germany, which is offering—
Asylum Support (Amendment No. 3) Regulations 2015
Debate between Baroness Walmsley and Lord Bates(9 years, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Walmsley (LD)
My Lords, this whole thing is shameful, but what the Minister has just said is quite unrealistic. In 12 months’ time, when the review is done, one could have undermined the health of hundreds of children, and that, in the future, will cost the NHS a great deal more money. Have the Government taken account of that?
Lord Bates
Our position is that we have gone into this in exhaustive detail, as my letter to the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, set out, probably in too much detail. It set out right down to the last penny where we felt that these amounts had come from. We clearly believe that we are complying with our international obligations. If this is shown to have a real detrimental effect, and evidence can be provided to us, then of course we will consider that very carefully next year, when this comes to be reviewed.