Syrian refugees are given council support
New posts created
New dedicated council posts are set to be created to continue supporting the Syrian refugee families who have come to Motherwell and other parts of North Lanarkshire.
Members of North Lanarkshire’s human resources committee approved the creation of one parttime and four full-time support worker positions to assist the families over the next year.
The 12-month posts will be fully funded by a Home Office grant given to the authority to cover costs involved with the resettlement programme, which began last November.
The new post holders will “work across each of the current resettlement areas and the two future resettlement areas when they are identified”.
At first, the support provision for those arriving from Syria originally involved existing staff from the council’s children and families and housing sections supporting the refugee families; the programme is now being extended thanks to the availability of funds.
Now there will be four children and family support assistants, and a refugee integration support worker, jointly managed by the council and Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire.
A report for councillors noted: “In recognition of the importance of the voluntary effort required to ensure the Syrian families integrate into North Lanarkshire communities, partners have been working together to develop an organisation that can support their resettlement and allow for the development of the social connections that are so important. North Lanarkshire were among the “first tranche” of Scottish councils to take in refugees from Syria last year.
The move came after councillors unanimously agreed to take action to support those affected by the war in the Middle East country.