Reform councillors in West Sussex are to call for the county council to withdraw from all voluntary refugee resettlement schemes.
A motion is due to be tabled by group leader Tim Charters (Southgate & Gossops Green) during a meeting on Friday (October 16).
As well as withdrawing from the schemes, the motion wants leader Jay Mercer (Lib Dem, Horsham East) to encourage the district and borough councils to do the same, and to write to the Home Officer to state that the county cannot accommodate any further asylum seekers or refugees.
The motion states: “This council recognises the severe and escalating pressures on public services across West Sussex, including acute shortages in housing, school places, GP appointments, SEND provision, and adult social care capacity.
“These pressures are intensified by population growth and by the increasing number of individuals arriving in West Sussex through voluntary refugee resettlement schemes and Home Office-directed asylum accommodation.”
A briefing note from the council’s director of communities, said the authority currently participated in four voluntary schemes – the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme, the Afghan Resettlement Programme, the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, and the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) Visa Scheme.
The funding for all four is fully covered by the Home Office, while all district and borough councils receive funding from the Local Authority Housing Fund.
But resulting social care and service costs are shouldered by the various councils. At county level, for example, the cost of caring for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children has been highlighted as ‘an area of financial risk’, with the council lobbying Government for more funding.
Other points in the motion include calling on the Home Office to publish full refugee placement data and related costs.
Government data shows that, as of the end of June, 740 asylum-seekers were receiving support in West Sussex – 326 in Mid Sussex, 301 in Crawley, 86 in Chichester, 19 in Worthing, four in Horsham, three in Arun and one in Adur.
At the end of September, the council was supporting 139 asylum-seeking children, compared to 84 in May 2025.
Some 290 former asylum-seeking children were being supported as care leavers – 144 in council-funded accommodation and 146 receiving support from the Leaving Care Service without council-funded accommodation.
The meeting will be held at County Hall, Chichester, at 10.30am and can be viewed online via westsussex.moderngov.co.uk .
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