Dudley finance boss says refusing £120,000 migrant support grant sends message to Westminster

Dudley Council’s leaders aim to pull the plug on funding for a charity which helps migrants claim benefits and housing.

The authority’s cabinet member for finance, Cllr Steve Clark, is taking the unusual step of refusing to sign off a decision to accept a £120,000 grant from central government to fund the Refugee and Migrant Centre (RMC).

The RMC is a Midlands charity which supports refugees and migrants with a range of issues including housing, employment, immigration advice and benefits applications.

Cllr Clark said: “While this contract is technically covered by an external grant, it is being managed in an ad-hoc way that bypasses standard competitive tendering rules. 

“More importantly, it creates long-term structural pressures on our borough. 

“Refusing this grant sends a firm message. We must prioritise our own taxpayers and existing residents who are struggling to access the vital local services they have paid into for years.”

The RMC has operated since 1999 and has drop-in centres in Walsall, Birmingham and Wolverhampton as well as in the Trident Shopping Centre in Dudley.

In 2024/25 the charity supported 19,380 people from 163 nationalities with 40,849 enquiries.

Cllr Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Council, said: “Dudley Council should not be acting as an administrative arm to clean up the government’s failure to control the UK’s borders. 

“If central government wants to hand out help to asylum seekers and refugees, they should administer it themselves instead of passing the buck to local authorities. 

“Our position is clear: we need to be providing homes, GP places, and school admissions for Dudley residents. 

“Dudley homes and Dudley school places must be preserved for the people of Dudley.” 

The refusal by Cllr Clark to approve accepting the grant for the RMC is a first for the council which is currently under Conservative control.

Cllr Harley added: “We’ve not done this before and I am eager to see the reaction of our officers and also central government, if a lot of councils did this they would have to react.

“I wish a lot of authorities would take the same stance because collectively we are very powerful.”

Cllr Harley also paid tribute to Dudley’s Procurement Team for insisting acceptance of the grant should be approved by the authority’s political leadership.

The Labour government in Westminster says the arrival of illegal immigrants in small boats is down by 42 percent compared with the same point last year and 80,000 people with no right to be in the UK have been removed since the last election.

Meanwhile, on September 28, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood reopened the UK resettlement Scheme to provide safe and legal routes for genuine refugees.

A statement from the Home Office said: “Around one in four referrals will be for Afghan women and girls and Palestinian refugees, fleeing war and persecution.

“The scheme builds on the UK’s long history of protecting people fleeing war and persecution, including refugees from the Syrian civil war, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and historic commitments to the people of Hong Kong.

“Working in partnership with local authorities, referrals will reopen immediately, with first arrivals expected before the end of the year.”