Julian Smith MP, Member of Parliament for Skipton and Ripon, has said he welcomes the news that North Yorkshire County Council are working with the police and health care providers to work on a combined approach to re-settling Syrian refugees.
North Yorkshire County Council met with Government officials in October to discuss their intention to work in partnership to play their part in any humanitarian response and to take in their fair share of refugees from the war in Syria. It was announced in September that the UK will takein 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years from refugee camps. The final number of refugees that can be supported in each district council area in North Yorkshire will depend on funding available from the Government in the short and long term.
In the meantime, NYCC has said they will be taking a comprehensive look at how they could successfully participate in the resettlement scheme which will include looking at county wide mapping of potential areas to house refugees, capacity in terms of school places, availability of accommodation, access to services, community cogesion, financial implications and provision of resources to manage the whole provess.
Julian said: 'I have received a lot of correspondence from constituents over the past few weeks urging the Government to start resettling refugees as quickly as possible and I am pleased that North Yorkshire has risen to the challenge and will be supporting those who have been driven from their homes and had to endure such terrible suffering.'