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Caerphilly County Borough will be part of a pilot programme supporting asylum seekers.
The borough is one of six Welsh council areas to sign up to the Home Office scheme, alongside Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Wrexham and Conwy.
On Wednesday, July 7, Caerphilly County Borough Council’s cabinet agreed to become an ‘asylum dispersal area’ – meaning it will work with the UK Government Home Office to provide support to five asylum seeking families.
What is Caerphilly County Borough Council’s cabinet?
A council’s cabinet is made up of councillors in charge of different policy areas – such as education, environment, local economy, etc – and a leader.
It is separate to the council’s corporate management structure, which is headed up by its chief executive and various directors. Cabinet is made up of councillors, who are elected and have the ultimate say.
Typically, cabinet members are councillors from the party with the most elected council members.
Caerphilly County Borough Council’s cabinet is made up of:
- Cllr Sean Morgan (Nelson) – Leader
- Cllr Jamie Pritchard (Morgan Jones) – Deputy Leader; Prosperity, Regeneration and Climate Change
- Cllr Nigel George (Risca East) – Corporate Services and Property
- Cllr Eluned Stenner (New Tredegar) – Finance and Performance
- Cllr Carol Andrews (Gilfach) – Education and Communities
- Cllr Shayne Cook (Morgan Jones) – Housing
- Cllr Elaine Forehead (Van) – Social Care
- Cllr Philippa Leonard (Risca East) – Planning and Public Protection
- Cllr Chris Morgan (Machen and Rudry) – Waste, Leisure and Green Spaces
Corporate management is made up of unelected employees of the council and has responsibility for day-to-day management of services, such as making sure the bins are collected. Corporate directors work with cabinet members to come up with policy which is then agreed upon by the cabinet.
Last updated October 13, 2023
The council will work with an organisation called Clearsprings Ready Homes, which will be tasked with finding suitable private rental properties in the area to support each of the families.
The costs of accommodating the five families will be met by the UK Government.
A timescale on when the families will be accommodated is yet to be decided.
Councillor Philippa Marsden, leader of the council, said: “The trauma that asylum seekers have experienced, in fleeing fear and persecution in their home county, is unimaginable. We’re proud to offer a place of sanctuary to these families, by giving our commitment to become a dispersal area.
“We also recognise the wealth of new skills and experience that refugees and asylum seekers bring to our communities.
“As a council we already have positive experiences of refugees settling in the county borough, having taken part in the UK Resettlement Scheme for a number of years.”
What is an asylum seeker?
An asylum seeker is someone who has fled their home country and is seeking protection from persecution and human rights violations in another country.
An asylum seeker is someone who is yet to be legally recognised as a refugee in their new country and is waiting for a decision to be made on their asylum claim.
It is a human right to seek asylum.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, there were 133,000 refugees in the UK as of September 2019, with around 62,000 asylum seekers waiting for a decision to be made on their application forms.
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