Councillor warned “be careful with your language” during asylum seeker accommodation discussion

County council chairman Phil Hewitt told Councillor Francis: “Please be very careful with your language”. Councillor Francis replied: “I’m just repeating what’s been said in other places.

“I’m not against immigration. I love the Commonwealth and we have Indians in our family group who came over in the 60s; I’ve got friends who are doctors and they’re fantastic people.

“I’ve had emails and phone calls by the dozen over this from my constituents who live in the area, so I’m here to represent them. The problem with this application is it’s in the wrong place.

“It’s next to an army camp, there’s a primary school next door, a sports facility opposite, a high school and the police HQ, so there’s some serious issues here. I’ve been into that accommodation and it’s like prison cells – it’s not the right accommodation for these people.”

Serco, which manages asylum seeker accommodation on behalf of the Government, has been granted permission to house up to 481 people at the former university halls of residence in Beaconside while their applications are processed. Stafford Borough Council’s decision to reject the application was overturned by the Planning Inspectorate following a public inquiry and the news was included in the leader’s statement presented to Staffordshire County Council’s latest full meeting.

The statement said: “While we are awaiting further details of timescales etc our priority now is to work with Serco, Stafford Borough Council and other partners to ensure local services can manage and that the asylum seekers receive the support they need during their time in the county. This is a large-scale proposal and will be able to accommodate around 500 people, which is likely to be young, single adults, on a temporary basis.”

But Councillor Gillian Pardesi questioned the description of the asylum seekers due to arrive at Stafford Court. She said: “My concern is if we do not have our facts right then we should not be printing statements like this.

“It is perpetuating an unhelpful narrative which is being used to scaremonger our communities. The reality is the asylum seekers will be a mixture of young men, single women and families with children.”

Councillor Victoria Wilson, cabinet member for communities and culture, said: “We are talking about people who have fled persecution and made their way here by whatever means they could. This is a beautiful county – let’s share our riches with others, in the hope that in time they will be able to return to their homes and communities and find them improved, or at least on the way to improvement.

“While it’s not our place to ask why or how, these people have found themselves here. And should we find ourselves ever needing to flee our familiar surroundings, let’s hope that if we ever did arrive into a strange foreign country we would be seen by local people offering a safe haven until one day we could go back to this county we call home.

“I’m very grateful we’re doing this. We should be welcoming everyone we can into this county as we always do.”

Councillor Carolyn Trowbridge said: “Stafford has always been a welcome place for refugees. Five years ago we saw Syrians fleeing war; most are now settled, speaking English as a second language, have jobs and are absolutely a part of our community.

“Then Stafford welcomed Afghans and Ukrainians equally with open arms. You may think it’s strange that I opposed this planning application – I opposed it because I didn’t think it was suitable for 481 residents and nowhere near big enough.

“At the inquiry lack of health and care came up again and again, and still it is a worry for me. Now the decision is final, I am sure Stafford and the rest of Staffordshire will welcome the asylum seekers who end up living, working and becoming part of our diverse and beautiful community.”

Councillor Bob Spencer said: “I think this is a highly sensitive and emotive topic. Unfortunately we do have elements of the extreme far right here and they will be naturally looking for some justification for what they do.

“I do however think that what we as elected members need to remind ourselves of is the fact we also have processes here. This is about trust and confidence of our local communities to protect them and make sure, whatever happens, we keep them safe.

“I would plea to members to exercise some restraint and control around some of the language and some of the comments that are made. These things are hard enough to manage with the authorities as it is and I would say please don’t fan the fires of those groups whose only raison d’etre is to do us and our communities harm.”