Lancashire County Council is set to become the first local authority in the UK to withdraw from the Government’s refugee resettlement programme, in a move likely to intensify the political battle over migration policy.
The Reform UK-controlled council has pledged to exit the scheme, arguing that it places “new arrivals ahead of British people” in access to local services and support.
The party secured a commanding majority on the authority last year, winning 53 of 84 seats, and has made reform of migration-related spending a central plank of its local agenda.
The Government’s UK Resettlement Scheme, introduced in 2021, provides councils with funding to support refugees arriving through official routes. This can include cash payments on arrival, welcome packs, assistance with utility bills, and help accessing GP registration and Jobcentre services.
But Reform UK has argued the system has created an imbalance in provision, with critics within the party claiming that vulnerable residents — including homeless veterans and low-income households — are being overlooked in favour of newly arrived migrants.
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s Home Affairs spokesman, said: “These schemes have only served to prioritise recent arrivals and foreign nationals ahead of the British public.
“Reform UK in Lancashire is putting an end to a shameful Conservative policy which shoved British people to the back of the queue for housing and council services.”
Joshua Roberts, the council’s cabinet member for communities, said the decision would ensure local residents were “put at the front of the queue” for support.
He also urged the central government to reconsider its approach, arguing that funding should instead be directed towards vulnerable people already living in the county, including veterans, whom he said had been “deprioritised by successive Labour and Conservative governments”.
If approved by the cabinet later this year, the withdrawal would apply to both the UK Resettlement Scheme and the Afghan resettlement programme. Support for Ukrainian refugees would continue unchanged.
The move is expected to increase pressure on other Reform UK-controlled councils to adopt similar positions, as the party seeks to differentiate its approach to local governance from that of mainstream parties.
It also comes as Reform UK outlines wider plans on migration, including proposals to locate migrant detention centres in areas controlled by rival parties if it wins power nationally.
The Greens, who are expected to perform strongly in this week’s local elections, have condemned Reform UK’s approach, including its wider deportation strategy, which they have described as “cruel” and “abhorrent”.
Reform UK has defended its position, arguing that placement decisions for any detention facilities would take into account local democratic representation.
Zack Polanski’s Green Party is expected to be among the biggest winners in Thursday’s elections alongside Reform UK, with both parties projected to make significant gains at the expense of the Conservatives and Labour.
The Lancashire decision is likely to become an early test case for how far Reform-controlled councils are prepared to go in reshaping local policy in line with the party’s national agenda.
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