Dacorum Borough Council says resettlement of families from Afghanistan does not detract from support for local people

Dacorum Borough Council has said its support to help resettle families from Afghanistan in Hertfordshire will not detract from its support of homeless people - or those on the housing register.

The council is one of three in the county that have confirmed that they will help families from Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of the capital Kabul.

The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) was announced in December 2020 by the UK Government, ahead of the withdrawal of British Forces from the country to ensure those who assisted the army and face risk to life would be able to apply for resettlement. The ARAP scheme launched on 1 April 2021.

In support of this scheme, Dacorum Borough Council will be resettling two families from Afghanistan in September 2021.

But Dacorum Borough Council says that is not the case.

A council spokesperson said: "This support does not detract from our work in supporting homelessness in our borough, or those on the existing housing register.

"We retain and manage a stock of just over 10,000 properties of varied types and sizes.

"Over the last few years, we have built a further 300 new council homes, investing £50 million in our ‘Building for the Future’ programme.

"Over the next five years, we will be looking to deliver a further 350 new homes.

"We continue to work with partners and local housing associations to provide homes for those in need."