ONE OF the first tasks of the council’s new public protection partnership team is to help Ukrainian refugees settle in.
Cllr Bill Soane, executive member for neighbourhood and communities, shared the news as a meeting of Wokingham Borough Council’s ruling executive noted that the public protection partnership was moving in-house from Friday, April 1.
It has previously been part of a service shared with West Berkshire and Bracknell Forest councils.
“I would like to thank our officers and staff, and those of West Berkshire Council for their work in bringing this to a conclusion,” he said. “We’re grateful for the work the partnership has done over the years.
“We believe that by bringing these services back in house, we will be able to offer our residents a service that meets their needs and expectations.”
This would include responding to incidents rapidly and efficiently. However, some of the services would continue to be provided by West Berkshire.
The work with the refugee he said involved ensuring their safety.
“(They are) checking the homes and the hosts are best suited to the needs and safety of these unfortunate people,” he said. “That’s a point I’m sure you would all agree is very important.”
Deputy leader Cllr John Kaiser wanted to know if this work would have been harder without the “flexibility” of the new arrangement. Cllr Soane confirmed it was and the support “in a more practical way” was one of the advantages of the new set-up.
