Millions of funding to be received as Afghan refugees are given homes in Staffordshire
The Home Office has instructed the County Council to make living arrangements for refugee families
Councils in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire will receive millions in extra funding to support a number of Afghan refugees once they are temporarily housed in Staffordshire.
Earlier today it was announced that councils will receive £20,520 per refugee that they help accommodate, after Afghan refugees were forced to escape their country once it fell under Taliban rule.
The news comes after local councils agreed to support the Government's Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) earlier this month, agreeing to help twenty-five families from Afghanistan settle in the area.
The £20,520 per person will help cover resettlement and integration costs over the next three years.
£4,500 will also be provided per child to help pay for education, £850 will go towards English language training for adults that require lessons while a further £2,600 will ensure refugees get appropriate healthcare.
With families fleeing from Afghanistan under ARAP reportedly being of an average size of seven, a total of around £3.6 million in funding could be given to Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire to cover the costs.
Refugees arriving into the area will also have the opportunity to find work, with local pottery business Wade Ceramics offering jobs to those who have had to flee Afghanistan.
Managing director of Wade Ceramics, Paul Farmer said: "Like a lot of businesses at the moment, we are recruiting at the moment. And so it just occurred to me that if we've got some Afghan refugees coming to the area, we have got jobs for them.
I understand that the council will be sorting out their accommodation but they'll also want to start providing for themselves and their families."