Extra £5m for council to support arriving Afghans

Councils will have access to a share of £5 million to help them provide the necessary housing and support to Afghans who have worked for this country in Afghanistan.

The government has said that additional healthcare provision, access to coronavirus vaccinations and funding for housing will be provided to support Afghans coming to the UK via the Afghanistan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme.

The Afghan LES (Locally Employed Staff) Housing Costs Fund will provide a top up to help councils meet the costs of renting properties for those that need it, including larger homes for families. This will help give councils the security to make a firm offer of support to take people into their communities and help them build a new life.

A recently announced resettlement scheme claims to be one of the most generous in British history, set to relocate up to 20,000 vulnerable Afghans.

New government plans will see all those who have fled Afghanistan are also being offered the coronavirus vaccine on arrival, if they haven’t received one already, and will be issued with a vaccine card. New vaccination points will also be set up at each managed quarantine hotel and those arriving will be invited to get their jab after they have received a negative Day 2 PCR test.

In addititon to this, healthcare support to Afghan refugees will also include rapid access to support for mental well-being in the wake of experiencing trauma and providing regular information check-ins with local services to prepare refugees for resettlement with additional translators to support engagement with the services being provided.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Our immediate focus is to evacuate the Afghans who risked their lives supporting us over the past twenty years and to whom we owe so much. We are proud to bring them to the UK, and this additional support will help make sure that those arriving from Afghanistan receive the housing and healthcare that they need as they start to build a new life here.

“We will do everything we can in the days, weeks and months ahead to protect the most vulnerable, which is why we’re doubling our humanitarian aid to the region and setting up a new bespoke resettlement scheme to give up to 20,000 of those most in need of refuge here in the UK.”