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CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION
The Need for a Service Specification
Scotland, specifically Glasgow, was designated a dispersal area for asylum seekers by the Home Office in 2001. Dispersal of asylum seekers to different parts of the United Kingdom was and is a policy that the Government has pursued with the intention of relieving pressure on services in London and the South East where asylum seekers had traditionally been concentrated.
For the last five years, Glasgow City Council has contracted with the National Asylum Support Service ( NASS), the division of the Home Office responsible for the accommodation needs of asylum seekers, to house those awaiting decisions on their claim for full refugee status and right to remain in the United Kingdom.
Regardless of the outcome of their claims, all asylum seekers must vacate their NASS supported accommodation within 28 days of notification of the Home Office's decision. At the point of notification, those awarded refugee status and a consequent right to remain in the United Kingdom, are at liberty to make an application for permanent accommodation to any one of the 32 local authorities in Scotland. It is clear that for the foreseeable future Scotland will become the permanent home for more refugees and their families.
The effects of the dispersal policy led to the integration of refugees becoming a Partnership Agreement commitment and a priority for the Scottish Executive. In January 2002, the Scottish Refugee Integration Forum ( SRIF) was established to develop plans to address key issues in integration and in October 2002 it published an Action Plan containing a number of recommendations for housing.
One of these recommendations included the development of a basic service specification, the aim of which would be to offer local authorities assistance in structuring or tailoring their housing and support services to meet the needs of refugees in their areas.
Two additional factors drove the need for a service specification:
Firstly, the potential impact of the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003 was unknown. The legislation laid down the principle that asylum seekers did not automatically establish a local connection with the area in which they were accommodated under the NASS arrangements. This meant that recently confirmed refugees have flexibility in where they apply for re-housing within Scotland. The pressure for some to leave Glasgow (or elsewhere) to find work or to be near family/friends adds urgency to the need for all Scottish local authorities, including those that have not previously been a traditional destination for refugees, to have access to guidance on best practice. It was established by CoSLA in 2003 that there was an asylum seeker/refugee presence in at least 24 local authorities in Scotland. It is likely that this number has increased and many experts in the field consider that official statistics under-estimate the true number of refugees in any given locality.
Secondly, the Supporting People Initiative, set out in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 (Housing Support Services) Regulations 2002 aims to fund the provision of good quality services to vulnerable people to enable them to live independently in the community. The Statutory scheme was seen as a particularly appropriate vehicle for assisting refugees to cope with the pressures of maintaining their accommodation. However, few projects, either in Scotland or the rest of the United Kingdom, had prioritised refugees as a client group within the remit of Supporting People. By highlighting examples of services that could be appropriate for funding it was hoped that gaps in the provision of integration activities for refugees might be plugged.
In addition to these two specific factors, there are more general considerations impacting on local authorities' statutory duties and these also merit mention.
Housing services are subject to quality monitoring, through contract compliance procedures and registration with the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (the Care Commission). Established under the Care (Scotland) Act 2001, the Commission has been responsible for the regulation of all housing support providers from 1 April 2003. In order to provide services, organisations must register with the Commission.
Communities Scotland, Regulation and Inspection, also monitor homelessness strategies of local authorities to ensure that the full range of community needs are met. They have recorded their intention to monitor strategies to identify specific actions to address the specific needs of refugees.
In addition, the statutory requirements of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 and the implications for the way in which public authorities approach their work with refugee communities are relevant. The general and specific duties under the Act influence service provision for refugees. Furthermore, although the voluntary and private sectors are not covered by the Act, public authorities who contract with voluntary or private sector organisations to fulfil relevant functions on their behalf will be expected to ensure that such organisations comply with the Act. Thus there is a need to ensure that contracting arrangements ensure that services fulfil the requirements of the Act in relation to refugees.
Aims and Objectives
The overall aim of the research was to develop a service specification that would fit the needs of local authorities, regardless of their size, location and extent of refugee population.
A number of objectives were set for the research. These were to:
- Identify the support needs which refugees may have in order to successfully access housing information, advice and support, from point of initial housing need to point of allocation of social housing/finding private sector accommodation;
- Identify potential needs of refugees - across housing tenures - for ongoing support to move into/continue to occupy accommodation;
- Identify how local authorities should ensure that the needs identified above are met.
Research Methods
A variety of methods were employed in reaching the conclusions on which the service specification is based. A desk review was undertaken of published research that had been carried out into the housing needs of refugees. An analysis of local authority and voluntary sector best practice was also made on evidence available to Michael Bell Associates by virtue of their management and evaluation of projects funded under two streams of Home Office funding - the Refugee Integration Challenge Fund and European Refugee Fund.
An initial consultation seminar was held in July 2004, attended by representatives from many Scottish local authorities and the voluntary sector. At this seminar important contributions were made which informed the researchers' design of the framework for three focus groups which would explore the experiences and needs of refugees in relation to housing and support. Each focus had a different composition. The first focus group included asylum seekers 1 and refugees, the second focus group was made up of established refugees and a third focus group was made up of female refugees.
The researchers also conducted a number of telephone interviews with key personnel who had experience of developing and implementing services that addressed refugee housing need.
Throughout, the Refugee Advisory Group provided advice and guidance on refining drafts of the specification.
Terminology
It is important to recognise that refugees are likely to have specific needs that are different from those of other groups of migrants and to ensure that local authorities and other organisations are in a position to respond to these needs appropriately and sensitively. It is worth considering the definition of refugee, identifying the features of refugee status and how it is confirmed. There are other categories of leave to stay in the United Kingdom which have no right to social housing or other services attached to them.
Throughout this report, the terms "refugee" and "asylum seeker" are not used interchangeably since the legal status of each is different as well as the entitlements that are attached. Whilst there is overlap between the housing and other social needs of asylum seekers and refugees and the assistance that asylum seekers receive clearly affects the level of support they require subsequently as refugees, it is important for local authorities to identify the distinctions that exist, not least in the light of the duties that may (or may not) be owed. Set out below, therefore, is a definition of the term which is for the purposes of this report alone. It should not be relied upon as a legal authority.
A refugee is someone who
"owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country, or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fears, unwilling to return to it"2
The United Nations Convention on Refugees forms part of United Kingdom immigration law, and so those who believe they fit the definition above and who arrive in any part of the United Kingdom can apply to settle permanently. Other people may apply to stay in the United Kingdom, having come here for some other purpose, for example to study, if they fear their human rights would be abused if they were to return to their home country.
While applicants in either of these cases wait for the decision on their applications, they are known as asylum seekers.
If the Home Office decides that an applicant is a refugee, as defined by the UN, s/he is granted "refugee status" and granted the right to remain indefinitely in the UK. S/he has the right to live in the UK with his/her family members, and may later choose to apply for British citizenship. Refugees and their family members have the right to work, claim benefits and apply for housing. The implications of a refugee's right to have their family members join them in the United Kingdom (if they were not here prior to the Home Office decision) should be borne in mind by local authorities. An indication of the refugee's intentions on family reunion may lead to more efficient decision-making in housing allocation.
In some cases, the Home Office may decide that an applicant does not meet the strict definition of "refugee" but nonetheless should not be returned to his/her home country. Instead s/he will be given Humanitarian Protection ( HP) or Discretionary leave ( DL).HP is offered for periods of up to three years, at the end of which an application for indefinite leave can be made. DL is offered for up to three years initially, further leave may be sought, but indefinite leave will not be granted until six years after DL was first granted. Neither HP nor DL carries with it the right to apply for family members to enter the United Kingdom from abroad, but any family members arriving with the applicant will be granted the same rights to remain as the applicant. People with HP or DL are entitled to work, claim benefits and apply for housing.
If the Home Office determines that an applicant has not proved his/her case for refugee status, he/she will be issued with notice to leave the United Kingdom within a set timescale. There are further rights to appeal this decision. If the applicant does not choose to exercise these rights, or if the original decision is upheld, there is no right to apply for housing in the interim and pending their departure or removal.
Invariably, refugees (or people granted Humanitarian Protection, Discretionary Leave or Exceptional Leave to Remain) will be in possession of documentation issued by the Home Office confirming their status. It may be in the form of a stamp in their passport, an identity card (similarly endorsed) or an authentically sealed letter. One or more of these documents will be required to access services and to obtain a national insurance number. It is recommended that housing officers responsible for determining an individual's refugee status should become familiar with these various documents.
The Code of Guidance on Homelessness offers further helpful guidance on different categories of leave to remain the United Kingdom, though in more complicated cases of assessment, for example, it is suggested that authoritative legal advice on the status of individuals is obtained from either within or outside the authority.
For more details on refugee status it is recommended that reference is made to the Home Office's website www.homeoffice.gov.uk
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