Staffordshire County Council

Asylum and Migration · drafted 2026-07-02 · accepted · 4 finding(s)

← council-level findings on this theme

17 Jul 2025On 17 July 2025, replying in writing to a Council question on immigration, the Leader of the Council set out a formal administration position (item 5 of a numbered list of policy positions) that council taxpayers' money would not be used to subsidise or implement national migration policies, and that any council funding currently used for such purposes would be withdrawn where legally possible; this is a general position on national migration funding, not a motion or statement specifically naming asylum hotels or Home Office accommodation. [1]

17 Jul 2025Staffordshire's published minutes contain no motion, cabinet decision or leader statement that names the National Transfer Scheme or unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) and moves to cap, pause, suspend, refuse or withdraw from it; the council's only immigration-specific policy position is the general 'On Immigration' statement the Leader gave at Full Council on 17 July 2025, which addresses national migration policy funding broadly rather than the NTS or UASC specifically. [2]

11 Sep 2025Where UASC are discussed in Staffordshire's published minutes, the record shows continuing support rather than any limiting decision: the Safeguarding and Education Overview and Scrutiny Committee's 11 September 2025 meeting recorded around 56-60 UASC in the county placed mainly in foster care and supported through a dedicated UASC Team, with no cap, refusal or age-assessment dispute recorded; and Full Council received the Corporate Parenting Panel's 2024/25 annual report on 9 October 2025 without any resolution to condition or limit intake. [3][4][5]

11 Dec 2025In the minutes of the 11 December 2025 County Council meeting, in response to a written question about the cost of accommodating migrants and support for asylum seekers, the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources confirmed that adult asylum seeker accommodation is a District and Borough Council responsibility, not a Staffordshire County Council one, and separately flagged for tighter audit and due-diligence controls a £2,000,000 grant the County had made to a refugee charity. [6][7]

References (7)
  1. Minutes, 17 July 2025 “5. On Immigration – Immigration policy is a matter for national government. However, we will ensure that Council taxpayers' money is not used to subsidise or implement national migration policies. Where council resources are currently used—directly or indirectly—to support such policies, we will, where legally permissible, withdraw that funding and redirect it to support the people of Staffordshire.”
  2. Minutes, 17 July 2025 “On Immigration – Immigration policy is a matter for national government. However, we will ensure that Council taxpayers' money is not used to subsidise or implement national migration policies. Where council resources are currently used—directly or indirectly—to support such policies, we will, where legally permissible, withdraw that funding and redirect it to support the people of Staffordshire.”
  3. Minutes, 11 September 2025 “Members sought clarification on the number of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking children and young people (UASC)”
  4. Minutes, 11 September 2025 “Currently in Staffordshire there were between 56-60 UASC. Foster placements were generally where most young UASC would be placed. UASC were supported through the UASC Team.”
  5. Minutes “Resolved – That the Staffordshire Corporate Parenting Panel Annual Report 2024/25 be received.”
  6. Minutes, 11 December 2025 “Adult Asylum Seekers – This is a District and Borough responsibility not a County Council responsibility.”
  7. Minutes, 11 December 2025 “we gave £2,000,000 to a refugee charity that had an 80% ratio of staffing costs”