Council leader writes to government for a third time over funding concerns

Councillor Michael Jones has detailed his frustration with the lack of response to his previous letters sent in November 2022 and June 2023, requesting New Burdens Funding to cover the huge cost implications of the government’s decision.

The council is pleased for Chagossians that the citizenship policy will go some way towards addressing historical wrongs but have grave concerns about housing costs and the implications on public services.

Councillor Jones’ letter has been sent to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Home Office and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

It states: “Our request for New Burdens Funding was made in November 2022. It is now the end of October 2023 and we have still to hear the outcome. As best we understand it, this is because of inter-departmental arguments around funding responsibilities. As the authority primarily affected, I have to say this is hugely frustrating, and is symptomatic of the lack of impact assessment, planning and response of government with regards to these issues.

“Your government's continued delay in decision making on this crucial issue for Crawley risks placing a financial crisis on the council that would have serious effects on its finances and profoundly threatens wider service delivery. I do not wish to leave you in any doubt over the level of concern this causes me, and I must urge immediate action from you.”

Crawley is home to around 3,000 Chagossians, which makes it by far the largest community in the UK. It’s highly likely that Chagossians taking advantage of the new British citizenship route will settle here, where there is an established community and where they may have friends or family.

Since November 2022, 6,600 Chagossians have applied for British citizenship and 3,200 have already been approved. This is very likely to create immense pressure on accessing local services including housing. If the council is required to provide housing, it would likely result in CBC being forced into issuing a section 114 notice, effectively declaring bankruptcy.

Just 100 households arriving in Crawley without housing would cost £227,500 every month or £2.73m per year in temporary accommodation costs – 20 per cent of the council’s net revenue budget.

There would also be a number of implications for public services, including significantly increased pressures on the health, social care and education systems which are already struggling to cope.

The letter continues: “I would ask that you now expedite matters so we can plan and deliver with certainty. Frankly, this delay has added to uncertainty, workload and risk on key teams, undermining our efforts locally to respond to the raft of housing and migration challenges facing this town, challenges which are entirely the direct consequence of policy decisions made by your government.”