WALES STRATEGIC MIGRATION PARTNERSHIP (WSMP)

(Asylum seekers, Refugees and Migrants)

Executive Meeting: Committee Room 2, Civic Centre, Newport, Tuesday 30th September 2008

10:30am – 1:00pm

Members Present Confirmed Apologies

Cllr, Gwenllian Lansdown; Chair WSMP (GL) Carol Mooney

Selina Moyo; WSMP (SM) Anne Hubbard

Naomi Alleyne; WLGA (NA) Sharon Davies

Chris Jones; Swansea Council (CJ) Cllr Aled Roberts

Cllr. Richard White; Newport (RW) Donald Graham

Kathryn Tucker; WSMP (KT) Malcolm Russell

Jane Farleigh; UK BA (JF) Cllr Peter May

ACC William Horne; Gwent Police (WH) Sian Thomas

Cllr, Lindsay Whittle; Caerphilly CBC (LW) Maria Battle

Mike Lewis; Welsh Refugee Council (ML)

Brett Pugh; Education officer, NCC (BP)

Lee Virgo; Cardiff Local Health Board (LV)

Jeff Collins; British Red Cross (JC)

Kebebush Mulugeta; Refugee Voice Wales (KM)

Rebecca Lowry; Wrexham CBC (RL)

Leanne Dalton; WSMP (minutes)

AGENDA / DISCUSSION / ACTION
1. Welcomes & Apologies. / Introductions were given and apologies listed.
GL: Donald Graham has now left and gave thanks for his involvement with WSMP.
New members:
Cllr Lindsay Whittle, Caerphilly CBC
Cllr Richard White, Newport CC
Lee Virgo, Cardiff LHB
3. UASC Reform update. / NA: UASC’s are looked after by the local authorities (LA’s) wherever they first present themselves. There are some concerns; often LA’s don’t have the correct facilities regarding language barriers etc. A quality service to all UASC’s is needed. UK BA reimbursed the excess costs to some LA’s last July. Brian Kinney wrote to LA’s in August, asking if anyone was interested in becoming a specialist authority for UASC’s.
NA: agreed with the proposed reforms but needed more information from UK BA.
NA: suggested a meeting rather than the workshop that is proposed for 20th October, for the South West and Wales region. JF agreed a meeting was a good idea and that UK BA would attend as UK BA doesn’t always get the correct information from social services.
Action: NA to contact Brian Kinney and arrange a meeting with Welsh Assembly government and other interested parties.
CJ: queried if JF had any key contacts with social services.
JF: advised out of hour’s situations are difficult, as UK BA work around the clock, as it’s not just typically between 9-5pm that we need to contact them.
BP: asked if there was potential for two or more authorities’ e.g. Cardiff and Newport, possibly involving Swansea, to work together as a specialist UASC authority.
NA: yes, a joint approach along the M4 corridor (Cardiff, Newport & Swansea) and possibly others is an option; we need to brief elected members.
BP: would like to be included in all emails relating to UASC Reform.
Action: BP to be added to UASC Reform email group by WSMP.
LW: queried if there were any statistics to inform elected members of the UASCs issue, any shared protocol?
ML: feels there are a lot of practice issues surrounding UASC’s who were not given status at a younger age of 14, and who are now 20 + years old.
LW: suggested looking at the practical working issues around UASCs rather than just sharing information between the authorities.
NA: all UASC’s need parity of treatment from all LA’s.
JF: UASC’s tend to be low in numbers in South Wales & South West regions.
LV: advised that the local health board (LHB) need a greater involvement so that there are broader services available. / NA
WSMP

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