A comprehensive roster of potential destinations where taxpayers could foot the bill for the housing of migrants crossing the Channel has lately emerged. This information originated from the site of Serco— one among three private entities conducting operations on behalf of the UK Home Office. Spanning 120 local authority areas, Serco’s dispersal program currently has quite a vast reach.
The disclosure coincided with the earlier revelation that Serco had proposed five-year rent assurance agreements to property owners, where all expenses would be borne by the taxpayers. The directory, initially made public but then retracted, was not compiled by the Home Office. This dispersal schema was segmented into three regions: North West, Midlands, and the East of England.
Serco emphasized their ongoing efforts to engage additional Local Authorities region-by-region to expand their operational purview. Contrarily, the firm’s website also declared ‘Procurement in the North West’ under a temporary standstill.
In the East of England, the territories identified for this initiative include Babergh/Mid Suffolk, Breckland, Broadlands/South Norfolk, Cambridge, East Cambridgeshire, East Suffolk, Fenland, Great Yarmouth, Ipswich, Kings Lynn & West Norfolk, Mid Suffolk, North Norfolk, Norwich, Peterborough, South Cambridgeshire, South Norfolk and West Suffolk.
For the Midlands, the list is extensive. It comprises Amber Valley, Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Birmingham, Blaby, Bolsover, Boston, Bromsgrove and Redditch, Broxtowe, Cannock Chase, Charnwood, Chesterfield, Derby, Derbyshire Dales, Dudley, East Lindsey, Erewash, Gedling, Harborough, Herefordshire County, High Peak, Hinkley & Bosworth, Huntingdonshire, Leicester, Lincoln, Lichfield, Malvern Hills, Mansfield, Melton, Newark and Sherwood, Newcastle-under-Lyme, North East Derbyshire, North Kesteven, North Northamptonshire, North Warwickshire, North West Leicestershire, Nottingham, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Oadby & Wigston, Rugby, Rushcliffe, Rutland, Sandwell, Shropshire, Solihull, South Derbyshire, South Holland, South Kesteven, South Staffordshire, Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands, Stoke-on-Trent, Stratford-on-Avon, Tamworth, Telford and Wrekin, Walsall, Warwick, West Lindsey, West Northamptonshire, Wolverhampton, Worcester, Wychavon, and Wyre Forest.
In the North West region, the following boroughs and cities were pinpointed: Allerdale, Barrow-in-Furness, Blackburn & Darwen, Blackpool, Bolton, Burnley, Bury, Carlisle, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Chorley, Copeland, Eden, Flyde, Halton, Hyndburn, Knowsley, Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester, Oldham, Pendle, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rochdale, Rossendale, Salford, Sefton, South Lakeland, South Ribble, Stockport, St Helens, Tameside, Trafford, Warrington, West Lancashire, Wigan, Wirral, and Wyre.
The demand for affordable privately rented properties reaches unprecedented heights with an estimated 1.3 million individuals queuing up for social housing. A council head voiced his criticism: ‘Serco is instigating landlords to misuse taxpayer funds, later pinning the blame on councils due to the resulting impact on local rents, services, and community harmony. It is detrimental to societal stability or the parties involved.’
A departmental representative mentioned a ‘step up’ in the cooperation with France and other countries to dismantle the operations of smuggling syndicates. It will also entail the implementation of stricter enforcement measures under new legislation.
Another departmental statement clarified, ‘The list of local authorities leaked on Serco’s website catering to landlords is not a department list, nor does it represent present or future asylum accommodation.’
A spokesperson for Serco clarified, ‘The directory on our website mirrors local authority areas encompassed by our Asylum Accommodation and Support Services contract, an arrangement with the Home Office that has been running for six years.’
The spokesperson reiterated, ‘This does not foresee that the Government will be initiating new accommodation in these areas.’ This statement seeks to clear the air surrounding the implications of the dispersed accommodation plan for migrants crossing the Channel.