(London) Today the British National Audit Office has revealed that the Government’s plan to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees in the UK is at risk of failing to achieve that by the deadline of 2020 due to a lack of infrastructure. Its latest report shows that the country is lacking 10,664 school places and 4,930 homes for these Syrian refugees.
But the NAO said school places were already "in short supply" and cited its 2013 report on funding for new school places, which revealed that about one in five primary schools were full or over capacity.
The NAO also estimates that about 20% of children in the resettlement programme are expected to have special educational needs.
This means local authorities will probably have to provide more than 1,500 special educational needs places, the NAO said - and some local authorities have already "turned away cases because they were unable to provide the required places".
OK, So the most densely populated country in Europe is having issues finding schools and homes for these poor people, who will suffer due to the inability to cater to their needs and how do the ethical latte drinkers react:
Refugee Council head of advocacy Lisa Doyle said it was "fantastic" that UK communities were welcoming refugees. She said:
But the NAO said school places were already "in short supply" and cited its 2013 report on funding for new school places, which revealed that about one in five primary schools were full or over capacity.
The NAO also estimates that about 20% of children in the resettlement programme are expected to have special educational needs.
This means local authorities will probably have to provide more than 1,500 special educational needs places, the NAO said - and some local authorities have already "turned away cases because they were unable to provide the required places".
OK, So the most densely populated country in Europe is having issues finding schools and homes for these poor people, who will suffer due to the inability to cater to their needs and how do the ethical latte drinkers react:
Refugee Council head of advocacy Lisa Doyle said it was "fantastic" that UK communities were welcoming refugees. She said:
"Each Syrian refugee welcomed by the UK will have their life transformed, if not saved by this programme.Err, Lisa, yer daft bat where are you going to put all these hundreds of thousands you want the UK to take in. The last I looked we have taken in over 1 million eastern Europeans these past few years which is the primary reason there are so few school places, so few homes and why rents have gone through the roof.
The UK government must build on this success by offering more refugees safe passage here, particularly by enabling more refugees with family here to join them smoothly and swiftly."
