WE are writing to you jointly as the Member of Parliament for Redditch and the Leader of Redditch Borough Council to seek to reassure Redditch residents on the issue of Syrian refugees being re-housed in Redditch.
Redditch may soon welcome a small number of Syrian refugees as part of the Prime Minister’s pledge that the United Kingdom will welcome an additional 20,000 refugees to our country from all camps bordering Syria by 2020. This will probably be part of a joint bid by other council in Worcestershire and, while the numbers involved are not yet confirmed, it will probably mean no more than 50 individuals for the whole of the county. This is likely to be about two or three families for Redditch.
The funding for re-housing these refugee families will come from the Department for International Development’s budget which has money set aside for this purpose. The money will not be coming from council tax paid by residents.
We believe we should do what we can for those caught up in the Syrian crisis, and trust that our community will welcome victims fleeing war, famine and persecution.
We hope that this letter makes clear that the small number of likely arrivals, coupled with the provision of Government finance will mean that the impact on our community in Redditch will be minimal.
Karen Lumley MP, Councillor Bill Hartnett
