Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Office, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2022 to Question 95780 on Social Rented Housing: Huddersfield and the Answer of 22 December 2022 to Question 111537 on Asylum: Housing, whether her Department has held recent meetings with the Asylum Resettlement Councils Senior Engagement Group on tackling the shortfall of (a) local authority and (b) housing association housing provision in Kirklees.

The Asylum, Resettlement Councils Senior Engagement Group (ARCSEG) meets every 3 months, with additional meetings held outside the quarterly cycle in exceptional circumstances. The meetings are chaired by the Director of Asylum Support and Chief Executive of the Local Government Association.

Accommodation provision and shortfall, such as contingency, dispersed and resettlement cohort accommodation, have and continue to feature prominently as a core agenda item for ARCSEG meetings. This is in addition to further discussion and progress tracking through other local government engagement forums such as the weekly cross-government Strategic Oversight Group and Ministerial Task Group.

In the last ARCSEG meeting on 13 December 2022 there was a constructive dialogue between Home Office officials and Local Government Chief Executives on a range of accommodation and housing issues. ARCSEG actions are progressed between meetings through “Deep Dive” sub-groups, all of which have local government representation.

We also regularly engage with our accommodation providers to discuss any issues that arise and ensure best practice is always followed. The performance of our providers is monitored closely by dedicated staff in each contract area, who are in daily contact with them. This is supplemented by a formal governance process which includes quarterly Strategic Review Management Boards and monthly Contract Management Groups. Service credits and subsequent improvement plans are discussed and monitored as part of this process