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| Scotland has taken in more than a third of all UK's Syrian refugees | Scotland has taken in more than a third of all UK's Syrian refugees |
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| Scotland has welcomed more Syrian refugees than any other part of the UK since David Cameron said Britain would resettle 20,000 people, while only 33 people have been accepted by London local authorities, figures show. | Scotland has welcomed more Syrian refugees than any other part of the UK since David Cameron said Britain would resettle 20,000 people, while only 33 people have been accepted by London local authorities, figures show. |
| The data, released on Friday by the Home Office, reveals that 1,602 people were resettled under the government’s Vulnerable Persons Relocation programme (VPS) between October last year and March. It exposes a wide disparity in the acceptance rates of councils across the country. | The data, released on Friday by the Home Office, reveals that 1,602 people were resettled under the government’s Vulnerable Persons Relocation programme (VPS) between October last year and March. It exposes a wide disparity in the acceptance rates of councils across the country. |
| Scottish authorities have accepted 610, including 68 in Renfrewshire, 58 in Argyll and Bute and 53 in Edinburgh alone. The most welcoming local authority is Coventry, where 105 Syrians were resettled in the six-month period, while 171 people have been taken by councils in Yorkshire and Humberside. | |
| Of the 33 London boroughs, only Camden, Islington, Barnet and Kingston-upon-Thames have taken any refugees in the period. No councils in the north-west, including the 10 in Greater Manchester, have accepted any refugees. | |
| No refugees were accepted by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in which the constituency of the home secretary, Theresa May, is located, or by Watford borough council, home to the constituency of the Home Office minister responsible for resettling refugees, Richard Harrington. | No refugees were accepted by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in which the constituency of the home secretary, Theresa May, is located, or by Watford borough council, home to the constituency of the Home Office minister responsible for resettling refugees, Richard Harrington. |
| The prime minister told parliament in September that Britain would “live up to its moral responsibility” towards people driven from their homes by the conflict in Syria by resettling 20,000 people from refugee camps on the Syrian border in the next five years. He said the pace at which they came to the UK would depend on the speed with which the UNHCR could identify refugees and how quickly local councils were able to process the applicants. | The prime minister told parliament in September that Britain would “live up to its moral responsibility” towards people driven from their homes by the conflict in Syria by resettling 20,000 people from refugee camps on the Syrian border in the next five years. He said the pace at which they came to the UK would depend on the speed with which the UNHCR could identify refugees and how quickly local councils were able to process the applicants. |
| Cameron’s local authority, West Oxfordshire, has taken 10, but there have been no acceptances in the boroughs in which several other senior ministers’ constituencies are found, including George Osborne (Cheshire East), Philip Hammond (Runnymede) and Michael Gove (Surrey Heath). | Cameron’s local authority, West Oxfordshire, has taken 10, but there have been no acceptances in the boroughs in which several other senior ministers’ constituencies are found, including George Osborne (Cheshire East), Philip Hammond (Runnymede) and Michael Gove (Surrey Heath). |
| Welsh councils have taken 78 refugees, and Northern Ireland 51, though the latter has accepted none in 2016. | |
| Ivan Lewis, the MP for Bury South who is seeking the Labour nomination for Greater Manchester mayor, criticised the combined authority in the region for not doing its bit. | Ivan Lewis, the MP for Bury South who is seeking the Labour nomination for Greater Manchester mayor, criticised the combined authority in the region for not doing its bit. |
| Eight months ago leaders in Greater Manchester agreed to take 1,500 Syrians on the VPR scheme over a five-year period but none have yet arrived in the region. | Eight months ago leaders in Greater Manchester agreed to take 1,500 Syrians on the VPR scheme over a five-year period but none have yet arrived in the region. |
| Lewis said: “I am very disappointed that Greater Manchester despite securing funding has so far failed to take one Syrian adult refugee. This is not acceptable and I am calling on the combined authority to take action as a matter of urgency. | Lewis said: “I am very disappointed that Greater Manchester despite securing funding has so far failed to take one Syrian adult refugee. This is not acceptable and I am calling on the combined authority to take action as a matter of urgency. |
| “Greater Manchester has a long and proud tradition of welcoming refugees. It is now urgent we show leadership and fulfil our moral obligation to victims of a bloody civil war.” | “Greater Manchester has a long and proud tradition of welcoming refugees. It is now urgent we show leadership and fulfil our moral obligation to victims of a bloody civil war.” |
| Lewis said he has begun recruiting local families who are willing to offer foster homes to Syrian child refugees, including some whose own relatives came to Britain originally on the Kindertransport having fled Nazi persecution. | Lewis said he has begun recruiting local families who are willing to offer foster homes to Syrian child refugees, including some whose own relatives came to Britain originally on the Kindertransport having fled Nazi persecution. |
| He said: “Vulnerable children and adults living in refugee camps deserve safe and secure homes as soon as possible. I have visited refugee camps in the past and know that despite the best efforts of aid workers no one should have to live in such conditions for any length of time. | He said: “Vulnerable children and adults living in refugee camps deserve safe and secure homes as soon as possible. I have visited refugee camps in the past and know that despite the best efforts of aid workers no one should have to live in such conditions for any length of time. |
| Related: Syrian refugees in Scotland: cold weather but warm welcome | Related: Syrian refugees in Scotland: cold weather but warm welcome |
| “I have begun recruiting families willing to take children and have been heartened by the number of local families willing to open up their homes. There is no time to waste as rightly there has to be proper vetting and training procedures before children can be placed.” | “I have begun recruiting families willing to take children and have been heartened by the number of local families willing to open up their homes. There is no time to waste as rightly there has to be proper vetting and training procedures before children can be placed.” |
| The Guardian has been trying since September to gain access to the figures. The Home Office refused a freedom of information (FoI) request asking to be told which local authorities had accepted Syrians on the VPR. Officials decided the information was exempt from disclosure under section(s) 36(2)c of the Freedom of Information Act. This provides that information can be withheld “where disclosure would otherwise prejudice, or would be likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs”. | The Guardian has been trying since September to gain access to the figures. The Home Office refused a freedom of information (FoI) request asking to be told which local authorities had accepted Syrians on the VPR. Officials decided the information was exempt from disclosure under section(s) 36(2)c of the Freedom of Information Act. This provides that information can be withheld “where disclosure would otherwise prejudice, or would be likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs”. |
| The Guardian had challenged the refusal but had yet to hear back when the government released the information. The release came after the home affairs select committee submitted its own FoI asking for the statistics. After the Home Office missed a 20-day deadline to respond, the information commissioner’s office ordered it to release the information as soon as possible. | |
| The chair of the committee, Keith Vaz, said: “This is the first time that the home affairs select committee has needed to resort to a freedom of information request from the Home Office. Surely this is such a successful policy for the government, I would have thought they would be more open and transparent. | The chair of the committee, Keith Vaz, said: “This is the first time that the home affairs select committee has needed to resort to a freedom of information request from the Home Office. Surely this is such a successful policy for the government, I would have thought they would be more open and transparent. |
| “Since the minister for Syrian refugees first appeared before the committee, it has been like drawing teeth to get basic information about any aspect of the commitment to settle these 20,000 people in the UK. | |
| “The failure to provide this information is obstructing parliament’s scrutiny of a major initiative of significant public interest, and we will continue to demand answers.” | “The failure to provide this information is obstructing parliament’s scrutiny of a major initiative of significant public interest, and we will continue to demand answers.” |