It was 2010. One of my soldiers was killed by the Taliban.
It was at this moment an Afghan interpreter disregarded his own safety and stayed behind to help me.
Within the full view of the enemy, he helped me to carry this man on a stretcher. Under constant fire for about 40 minutes, he kept going until we reached safety.
This one example shows how, nearly two years on since the largest UK military evacuation in more than 70 years, we must fulfil our commitments to the cohort of Afghans who we opened our arms to and welcomed to Britain.
This will require continued hard work and collaboration between central and local government.
I firmly believe that this can be done, and with more than 9,000 Afghans already living in settled accommodation, we need to make sure that we finish the job.
So, I’m writing today to call on local councils to redouble the already excellent work that has gone on to help this cohort.
I know that councils face housing pressures already. But there is an urgent need to act now. With thousands of Afghans still requiring settled accommodation, deadlines are fast approaching.
To meet this need, we’ve provided a £35 million funding package to help local authorities to give increased support for Afghan households.
We’ve consciously made this as flexible as possible, so that local experts on the ground can use it to meet the local needs of the area.
This funding includes the new Flexible Housing Fund, which provides £7,100 per person to support moves into settled accommodation. We are leaving it to you as councils to determine what constitutes ‘settled accommodation’.
Flexibilities have been introduced to the bridging accommodation wraparound support funding. This enables councils to fund landlord incentives, deposits and rent in advance.
And the integration tariff (£20,520 per person over three years) can also be used for deposits, landlord incentives, furnishings and other associated costs.
These are to name a few of the flexible funding sources, and I encourage all councils to use the range of housing and integration funding options available.
We cannot achieve our shared goal of ending hotel use for legally resettled and relocated Afghans without the help of councils across the country.
Since I announced in March of this year the end to hotel accommodation, I have visited a number of hotels across the country.
I’ve met Afghan families, and local authority and civil service staff, who work every day to help families find the future they deserve. I have always been impressed by the knowledge, hard work and dedication of those staff working in the hotels.
We know that hotel accommodation is not the best way that people can integrate into society. Speaking to families who have been resettled, I’ve been inspired by their stories of hope, and their desire to forge a new life here in the UK.
I know that through your skill and hard work this will be the case. But we must leave no stone unturned in these crucial next few months, to help these families realise their future in Britain.
- See www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-housing-fund for more on the Local Authority Housing Fund