Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Private Sponsorship Scheme for Syrian refugees; and what estimate she has made of the number of people likely to participate in that scheme.

Richard Harrington

The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme is based on need and prioritises those who cannot be supported effectively in the region. As the refugees that are being resettled may have medical, social care or other needs, all of the arrivals to date have been placed with local authorities which are being provided with funding to ensure these needs can be addressed.

We will build on offers of support to develop a community sponsorship scheme to allow individuals, charities, faith groups, churches and businesses to support refugees directly. This is why we are now working with the individuals and groups who have made offers on developing a sustainable model for helping vulnerable people settle and integrate in the UK and, where they are able, find employment.

We are consulting international partners to understand how their schemes work, and with partners in the UK to make sure we design a scheme which works well here.