Migration and Asylum Update
Renfrewshire Council · 17 June 2026
Back to Leadership Board — 17 June 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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PUBLIC ___________________________________________________________________ To: Leadership Board On: 17 June 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Migration and Asylum Update ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 This paper provides an overview of recent developments in relation to migration and asylum provision in Renfrewshire. 1.2 Services and partners continue to work closely to respond to emerging policy developments in relation to migration and asylum activities and have established several partnership groups and structures to work closely on any identified issues, including through the Strategic Migration Group chaired by the Chief Social Work Officer. 1.3 Regular updates will be provided to Elected Members as these develop, with regular briefings provided to Group Leaders in line with a previous decision of the Leadership Board. Information at ward level will be communicated to Elected Members should significant information at this level be provided to the organisation. 2. Recommendations 2.1 Members are requested to note the content of the report. 3. Background 3.1 Renfrewshire has a strong history in terms of supporting people who come to live and settle in the area through different humanitarian programmes or resettlement routes, and services and partners have worked very closely in recent years to develop the skills, experience and supports required in response.
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PUBLIC 3.2 The level of change experienced in terms of migration and asylum related activities is considerable and has required officers to work with partners to monitor and consider the impact of these changes through new partnership groups and initiatives. 3.3 As highlighted in previous updates, the focus throughout 2025 and 2026 has been on working with partners to assess how services should respond to increasing levels of diversity in Renfrewshire’s communities, and to develop initial actions to support New Scots as they resettle in Renfrewshire. 3.4 As previously reported to Elected Members, the 2022 Census evidenced significant change in terms of the diversity of Renfrewshire’s communities in relation to ethnicity in particular. A report was previously provided to the board in November 2024 which highlighted how international migration has driven short-term increases in our local population. Officers recently offered presentations on ward-level demographic changes, as part of Elected Member Development Week, which were well received. 3.5 This paper provides an update for members on the work programme being progressed by officers and partners and highlights a number of emerging issues for consideration. 4. Resettlement Programmes 4.1 The Council and its partners have supported a number of resettlement programmes since 2015 in Renfrewshire. In recent years these have involved support for Ukrainian people displaced because of the invasion by Russia, and the Afghan Resettlement Programme. 4.2 Others have arrived via the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), which operates in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This is a humanitarian route that brings the world's most vulnerable refugees to the UK where it is unsafe from them to return to their home country. Refugees resettled on the UKRS can apply to become a British citizen following 5 years of continuous residence. 4.3 As of 31 March 2026, just under 600 people are known to be accommodated across Renfrewshire through resettlement or humanitarian protection schemes. This includes families and individuals from Afghanistan, Gaza, Myanmar, Somalia, Syria and Ukraine. These resettlement schemes typically operate on the basis of a visa being provided for a period of between 3 and 5 years, with participants coming to the UK being approved for resettlement by the UK Government prior to entry, and gaining rights to education, employment, and welfare benefits for the period of residency. 4.4 The Council receives funding from the UK Government to provide resettlement support through the above programmes, although elements of the Ukraine programme funding are now ending.
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PUBLIC The funding is used to resource the resettlement team, with recent developments including the recruitment of specialist posts to support the health and wellbeing of refugees being supported by the team. This ensures there is enhanced signposting to services such as employability and advice services. 4.5 Support for Ukrainian Displaced Persons (UDPs) has been a significant undertaking in recent years, with this group representing the majority of the caseload for the Council’s resettlement team. At this time, 506 UDPs across Renfrewshire are currently being supported, totalling 215 households; 188 of which are being supported through tenancies with social landlords including the Council. 4.6 The rate of arrivals has slowed significantly following the closure of the main visa schemes, and all UDPs have now applied for the 18-month extension offered by the UK Government on their existing 3-year visa. In February 2026, the UK Government announced a further extension to the UPE scheme of a further 24 months, meaning the maximum length of the extension from the original Visa ceasing would total 3-and-a-half years. 4.7 The Council has also been asked in recent years to support Afghan nationals through a number of specific resettlement programmes. In March 2025, these were replaced by a new umbrella Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP), with the UK Government writing to all local authorities in the UK to request participation and support given the urgent requirement for Afghan nationals to be resettled within the UK. There are currently 26 Afghan households being supported in Renfrewshire through the various resettlement programmes. 5. Asylum Dispersal 5.1 As previously reported to the Leadership Board, the UK Government have rolled out a programme of asylum dispersal over the past few years, in order to ensure that the requirement to provide support to asylum seekers is shared more proportionately across regions and local authority areas. 5.2 It is important to note that people have a legal right to seek asylum once in country. If assessed as destitute, support and accommodation is provided by Home Office and Mears whilst a formal application to remain is assessed. This may be in hotel accommodation or in an individual property procured or leased through Mears. In Renfrewshire, both hotel accommodation and individual properties are utilised by Mears. 5.3 The most recent Home Office statistics (as of 31 March 2026) showed that 114 asylum seekers are resident in Renfrewshire; with 44 supported in dispersal accommodation (housing) and 59 supported in contingency accommodation (hotels). This equates to 6.03 asylum seekers per 10,000 population being supported by Mears in Renfrewshire, up from 5.97 in the previous quarterly update.
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PUBLIC This remains below both the Scottish average of 11.88, and the UK-wide average of 14.08 asylum seekers per 10,000 population. The Home Office publishes information on those seeking asylum by country and local authority, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data- sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables 5.4 Local authorities are not responsible for housing people who are seeking asylum and do not receive funding to provide this support. However, they do have a statutory duty to provide support once people have been granted asylum and the right to remain in the UK. Regular updates on any housing related issues are reported regularly to the Communities and Housing Policy Board. 5.5 During 2024/25, 123 former asylum seekers have presented to the Council’s homelessness/housing support team following a positive decision; highlighting that individuals can receive a decision while living in one local authority area before moving to another with no local connection. 78 former asylum seekers presented to the homelessness/housing support team during 2024/25. 5.6 In the past year, Council officers have received notification of a small number of family reunion cases in Renfrewshire linked to the asylum dispersal process, with individual sponsors being able to apply for a family reunion decision, subject to the individual sponsor receiving a positive asylum decision or refugee status. The family reunion scheme has been paused to new applications by the UK Government since September 2025. 6. Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children and Young People 6.1 The Home Office indicates there remains significant pressure on the number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in the UK and there is a possibility that the allocation to individual authorities will increase through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) Protocol. 6.2 Renfrewshire continues to receive arrivals through the scheme and like all other local authorities remains under a duty to comply. The UASC Team receive referrals from Migrant Help and Mears, and work collaboratively with Council services to ensure that the needs of all children are met. In total, by the end of March 2026 there were 41 UASC being supported by Renfrewshire Council. 6.3 The National Transfer Scheme (NTS) Protocol for UASC was updated in June 2025, however all local authorities with children’s services remain under a duty to comply with the NTS. The Home Office will not transfer UASC to an authority that is looking after a number of UASC in line with, or greater than, 0.1% of its general child population.
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PUBLIC 7. Recent development activities 7.1 Officers have worked with partners over the past 12-18 months to form a Strategic Migration Group to consider the impact of Renfrewshire’s changing population, and to commence the process of developing a New Scots action plan for Renfrewshire. A needs assessment session with partners was held in October 2025 to initially consider information available on provision and support for New Scots and a local action plan is currently under development. 7.2 Officers are also working closely with the Renfrewshire Integration Network (In Ren), who have been working on an action plan relating to the integration of ethnically and culturally diverse communities in Renfrewshire. They have launched a pledge – linked to a “We Are All Renfrewshire” campaign. 7.3 A community leaders session is being scheduled for June 2026, which will focus discussions on how partners can work together to “build stronger communities” and to specifically address some of the issues being experienced across local communities in terms of community cohesion and connection. 7.4 Partners are also working on a local New Scots information pack which can support local resettlement. 8. Next Steps 8.1 As outlined above, officers will continue to engage through the Strategic Migration Group chaired by the Chief Social Work Officer, to monitor and respond to the impact of any emerging pressures as a result of the developments outlined in this paper. 8.2 In line with the previous decision of the Leadership Board, officers will continue to brief Group Leaders on any strategic developments outwith the Leadership Board meetings as scheduled, whilst ward members will be specifically briefed should any emerging information be relevant and available at that level. ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – The increasing demand on services has been largely managed within existing resources with some additional staffing being put into place through migration and asylum funding streams allocated to the Council by the UK and Scottish Government. 2. HR & Organisational Development – Grant funding allocated by both the UK Government and Scottish Government for different schemes has been utilised to fund additional support staff as required.
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PUBLIC 3. Community/Council Planning – Supporting New Scots to resettle in Renfrewshire is an important element of the Fairer Renfrewshire programme and has been identified as a priority by members of the Fairer Renfrewshire lived experience panel. 4. Legal – Relevant legal advice is sought from colleagues in relation to proposed policy changes and their impact on Renfrewshire as required. 5. Property/Assets – None. 6. Information Technology – None. 7. Equality and Human Rights – The recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. The New Scots strategy supports a human rights-based approach to the resettlement of people in local communities. These principles remain core to local discussions with partners in relation to proposed policy changes which may arise 8. Health and Safety – None. 9. Procurement – None. 10. Risk – The paper notes potential risks in terms of increased pressure on local resources as a result of national policy changes around asylum dispersal and wider resettlement programmes and particularly highlights increased financial risks which have been identified in relation to potentially significant pressures on housing and homeless services. 11. Privacy Impact – None. 12. COSLA Policy Position – Regular updates on migration and asylum developments are considered through COSLA Leaders and policy boards. 13. Climate Risk – None. 14. Children’s Rights – Children’s rights are considered in relation to the support that is offered to children and young people receiving support in Renfrewshire through asylum and resettlement programmes. Author: Laura McIntyre, Head of Policy and Partnerships