The article discusses a dispute between Stockton Borough Council and MP Matt Vickers regarding the council's handling of asylum seekers. Vickers accused the council of accepting a "disproportionate number" and criticized the presence of lone men in the town center. In response, Council leader Lisa Evans defended the council's actions, stating that they have a static number of asylum seekers and lamented the inaccuracies in Vickers' statements. She emphasized that the local authority has not joined the government's asylum dispersal scheme, and the issues arise from a lack of housing availability. The exchange highlights tensions over local and national responsibilities in addressing asylum seeker accommodation.
Gareth Lightfoot Local Democracy Reporting Service LDRS A council leader has said an MP's claims the local authority takes a "disproportionate number" of asylum seekers were "misleading and inflammatory".
Labour's Lisa Evans said she was "extremely disappointed" by Vickers' comments. The council could only house asylum seekers where there were vacancies and had not opted into the government's dispersal scheme.
Vickers claimed Stockton has "amongst the highest levels of asylum seekers per population in the entire country", contradicting Labour's positive view of diversity.
Evans called the MP's remarks "unfair, inaccurate and inflammatory", emphasizing that he cannot blame the council for government-initiated schemes.
Collection
[
|
...
]