Well, late last month I did at last get an answer to my request made to Croydon Council in May, 2005, to know how much of our council tax was spent on asylum-seekers/refugees/immigrants in the Borough for the year 2004.
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Originally Posted by James Derby, the Croydon Council’s Corporate Solicitor
The London Borough of Croydon receives three Government Grants for the provision of assistance for Asylum Seekers/Refugees. In 2004/05, Croydon Council received from:-
1. Home Office:
(i) A Grant £13.144m for provision of assistance to Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children
(ii) A Grant of £1.436m for provision of assistance for Adults and & Families
2. Department for Education & Skills:
A Grant of £1.088m (estimated spend £1.905m) for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children Leaving Care
Support is also provided outside of Government Grant regimes. In 2004/05:-
1. The Council incurred costs of £0.149k for those with No Recourse to Public Funds.
2. All education costs are covered within overall central government education grant funding, but Croydon Council does not cost it separately.
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So there we have it: Council-tax payers coughed up £149,000 (I later confirmed with him that ‘£0.149k’ does in fact mean £149,000.), and all of us contributed around £15.5 million – in
one London borough! …And these are the costs which can be isolated: NHS treatment and regular education are, of course, ‘free’!
Lastly, I’m pleased to report that the Assistant Complaints Resolution Officer was less than happy with the time it took our servants in local government to reply, and has indicated he’s going to give them a rocket:
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I am concerned that it has been over six months since you initially submitted your request to the Council. As you know, under section 1 of the Act, public authorities have a duty to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held and, where it is, to communicate it to an applicant. Under section 10 of the Act this must be done within twenty working days of the date of receipt. I shall be writing to the Council with my concerns and seeking their assurance that future requests will be dealt with in accordance with the Act.
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A tiny victory!