Study title

The data comprises of qualitative semi-structured interviews with individuals working in the asylum and refugee sectors of four UK cities - Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, and Sunderland, together with representatives from national refugee organisations. These interviews focus on discussing the UK's asylum dispersal process both nationally and in these cities, how this policy and process has developed since 2000, and the effects of its privatisation since 2012. Discussions include considering the effects of policy on asylum seekers, how policy changes influence local authorities, and the changing landscape of support provision and third sector advocacy for asylum seekers and refugees in Britain.

This study will investigate the politics of urban asylum in contemporary Britain at a time of increasing pressure on asylum services and provision. In 2009, the UK Border Agency announced moves to increase the private provision of dispersal accommodation for asylum seekers and to halt contracts with local authorities. Such a move effectively ends the provision of public housing to asylum seekers in a number of British cities. This research represents the first endeavour to examine the impacts of this policy shift. The project aims to explore how four urban authorities are responding to these changes and how subsequent negotiations between urban authorities, the UK Border Agency, private accommodation providers and asylum support groups affect the lives of those seeking sanctuary. The multi-sited research is centred upon four cities with significant dispersal numbers; Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow and Sunderland. The research will be disseminated widely via a series of podcasts to communicate key findings to policy, media and third sector communities.