News
County’s efforts to help refugees
COUNCIL officers in Maidstone are working with statutory services in the county to help asylum seek- ers and refugees coming to Kent. Maidstone Council’s housing and communities team is liaising with KCC, other district councils, the po- lice and other services to achieve a “joined up” approach. Although accommodating chil-
dren and young people is the re- sponsibility of KCC, Maidstone councillors were told that residents might like to consider helping this priority group. The council has already begun contacting housing associations and private landlords who might have properties available for adults and families. Chief executive Alison Broom told members: “There is considerable public interest in the arrangements that councils are making to ensure a constructive and effective response to the current refugee crisis.” There arenowthree reception cen-
tres in Kent and a national system for “distributing” adults and fami- lies. However, unaccompanied chil-
dren under 18whoare asylum seek- ers arriving through the channel ports are the responsibility of KCC. There are currently about 730 un- accompanied children in KCC’s care, of which about 75% are aged 16-17. A significant portion come from Eritrea, Afghanistan and Africa. Mrs Broom said: “There is clearly considerable cost in providing ap- propriate accommodation, care and support to these looked-after chil- dren. There is likely to be an in- creased service need for over 18s and this in turn will have an impact for district councils if care leavers be- come homeless.” Asylum seekers who cannot sup-
port themselves are supported by the government – the only ones di- rectly supported by local authorities are the unaccompanied children. The council is waiting to hear
what its responsibilities will be in re- lation to Syrian refugees but Mrs Broom said: “The key services im- pacted will be housing, health, edu- cation, policing and community services.”
BROOMFIELD Church christened its two new bells with a celebration peal and a blessing from the Archdeacon of Maidstone, the Venerable Stephen Taylor. Verger Derek Hadlow,
who funded one of the new bells, also gave a short address before they were rung again in celebration. One visitor drove down
from Warrington in Lan- cashire especially for the dedication service. Another bell is on order
and will bring the tower’s full complement to six.
Enterprise plan for campus
A NEW business enterprise zone could be coming to Kent – incorpo- rating the upcoming Maidstone Medical Campus. The campus, in Weavering, has
linkedupwith the RochesterAirport Innovation Park and Ebbsfleet Gar- den City to bid for funding as a new North Kent Innovation Zone. Aswell as attracting business rate discounts, companies working within the new enterprise zones are able to get enhanced capital al- lowances for plant and machinery,
giving an upfront cash flow benefit. Local business rate retention
means councils can help fund fur- ther development within the enter- prise zone. Enterprise zoneswere introduced
by the Government in 2011 to help create the conditions for strong, sus- tainable and balanced growth. Existing zones have attracted hun-
dreds of new start-up firms, with simplified planning rules, super-fast broadband and millions of pounds in tax breaks for new businesses.
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