They are responsible for your accommodation. Check benefits and financial support you can get, Find out about the Energy Bills Support Scheme, youre an asylum seeker and youve just arrived in the UK, youve just received the decision on your asylum application, youve been successful in your asylum application and are building a new life in the UK, dealing with agencies, eg social services, building a life in the UK if youre given permission to stay here, threatened or harmed by someone because of your race, threatened or harmed by a member of your family. We aim to provide excellent customer service, but recognise that sometimes we might fall short of your expectations. Taxicab Dispatch. People have no choice over where or how they are housed and are given 40.85 a week in asylum support. If you have claimed asylum and are awaiting a decision you can apply for financial support and housing from the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) which is part of the Home Office, a department of UK Government. There are already hints to what could happen in Mears accounts. Shareholder Value Management (SVM) is a German investment firm based in Frankfurt. I think the job of a local council is to do its best to make sure that all its residents have safe and decent homes to live in., A crisis for asylum housing tenants in Mears housing in South Yorkshire. If you have claimed asylum it is important that you get legal advice and find a solicitor to represent your case as soon as possible, as there are very short deadlines for providing the evidence needed to support your claim for asylum. Following the money. When the contracts start in September 2019, Mears will run asylum seeker housing in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and in Yorkshire, the Humber and the North-East of England. In particular, one model Mears is pushing is converting empty commercial property, such as old offices, into affordable housing. The AIRE contract has been a disaster. Women in particular never get shampoo and toiletries normal for guests. If something goes wrong and you are not happy with our service, please contact us to let us know. The important statement from Cllr Paul Wood is the first time since 2012 that any council has expressed willingness to run an asylum housing contract for the Home Office. But for Mears, this will mean taking one of its main competitors out of the game. At. Should we have an At half past midnight on Christmas eve, Ruth, an asylum seeking mother with a 3-year-old child, rang me. Find out about call charges. As part of the Mears Group we offer partnership solutions and expertise in estate management and property maintenance. Home Office statistics show that there were 34,354 new asylum claimants in the UK (main applicants only) in the year ending September 2019, 22 percent more than the previous year and the highest level for three years. 15,719 (2016) Website. Even with infamously low wages being paid to staff, many contracts do not pay enough for companies to break even. As mentioned above, it boasts that one of the key features of its placemaking business strategy is: Blurring of the boundaries around social, affordable and private rented housing. Chips and crisps from 1.30 in the afternoon to 8 oclock the next day., Poor health care for pregnant women, people not tracked, Terry told me, In the hotel where I spent two months there was a pregnant woman who was visited by the midwife. The Mears Group, which has the Home Office contract to house asylum seekers in Glasgow has been heavily criticised for its decision to move around 400 asylum seekers in Glasgow claiming it was necessary because of problems securing lets during the lockdown, which campaigners say had put the physical and mental health of asylum seekers at risk. Highest UK asylum claims since 2004 Councils to be forced . I hope you can get Mears to come quickly. As a result, while a company may be acting primarily in the interests of its shareholders, responsibility for its actions is difficult to lay at the door of any one shraeholder. His replacement, Kieran Murphy, is an investment banker rather than a builder. Contact Us Book Your Ride Today. Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm Over the past weeks it has become clear that in South Yorkshire at least, the working of the Mears housing contract is in chaos, putting asylum tenants at daily risk. You can report issues to us here, Address:Innova HouseInnova ParkKinetic CrescentEnfieldLondonEN3 7XH. But maintenance margins are tight. Read more about our complaints process, here. The Home Office operate a number of regional contracts to facilitate this. Accounts filed at Companies House show that Clearsprings Ready Homes Ltd - the full legal name of the company running the asylum contracts - was paid 68.7 million for its services in the year ending 31 January 2020.. Clearsprings makes its money as a housing outsourcer to central . You should receive 28 days notice of the date that you must leave. But it is far from certain the company can be trusted to provide decent homes for refugees. The roles of national and local governmentSupport for Asylum SeekersSupport after a decision on your asylum claimSupport for Refugees Its revenues from this in 2017 were 134 million, down from 152 million the year before. Quanta Services builds the infrastructure that powers your world. One Mears subsidiary, called Terraquest, is unlike other parts of the business. But thanks to amendments to regulations made under the Blair government, companies have been able to use this to artificially inflate their overall worth, with Carillion again the most notorious example (click here for an in depth look at this by the Financial Times). Our customer contact centre is open 24/7 and can deal with all your initial enquiries or put you in touch with the right person to help. Please contact the Asylum Teamat asylum@newcastle.gov.uk. A spokesperson for Mears, which provides asylum seeker accommodation on behalf of the Home Office, said it is working to reduce the use of hotels "wherever possible". G4S lost all its asylum housing contracts in 2019 after a sustained campaign over six years by asylum tenants with the courage to complain and challenge the international security company as their landlord. Asylum accommodation and support services; News News. For example, a website may provide you with local weather reports or traffic news by storing data about your current location. These items are used to deliver advertising that is more relevant to you and your interests. The Home Office is responsible for managing the dispersal, accommodation and support needs of asylum seekers while a decision on the asylum claim is made. I was really worried. North of England Refugee Service (NERS) Email:feedback.mearsliving@mearsgroup.co.uk. Mears Group plc is a housing and social care provider. If you are in receipt of benefits it may be a requirement of the Jobcentre Plus that you look for work. Wed like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. National government determines immigration status and whether or not an asylum seeker is accepted. I have been forced to stay put until Mears carried out the repairs in accordance with the legal settlement. Over the past four months, the combination of these delays and Mears contract performance its failures in terms of the quality, cleanliness and general management of homes have failed tenants. He also chairs the investment committee at University College London hospital. Another big Mears contract is the 200 million, ten year housing maintenance deal with Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC), which began in 2010. We will push for the Mears contract to be terminated by the Home . A massive 42% of staff left the company in 2017. Mears likes to boast about this scheme. Mayfair-based PrimeStone Capital describes itself as working constructively with management and stakeholders to create long term enduring value. Primestone was founded by Franck Falezan, Benot Colas and Jean-Pierre Millet, three financiers previously with The Carlyle Group, a major US venture capital firm. Please contact Migrant Help to report any problems with your asylumaccommodation, they will liaise with the accommodation provider on your behalf to address these. However, his bonus pay is linked to the companys financial performance, and with Mears finances slightly reduced from the previous year, Miles didnt get any of his bonus in 2017. Scottish media reported allegations that he had been ousted for asking awkward questions about the Mears contract. I checked the visitation logs and Barnsley Councils Environmental Health Officer (EHO) had been there the day before. One, now in the bag, covers major Home Office asylum housing contracts for Scotland, Northern Ireland, and North East England, Yorkshire and the Humber. Read more about our complaints process, here. It finally turned a very small profit on home care in 2017, after it had closed a fifth of its branches, mostly in the north of England. But it was soon clear that the Placemakers at Mears were thinking well beyond just doing repairs. We use some essential cookies to make this website work. Residents in the asylum housing Mears provide have no tenants' rights, and regularly report damp, ill-repair, rat . Failings in one branch saw people left without medicine and meals. . Registered Office: Innova House, Innova Park, Kinetic Crescent, Enfield, London EN3 7XH. In Scotland, Mears takes over from the previous manager, Serco, after a strong local campaign against that companys attempts to evict 300 refugees from their homes in Glasgow. Mears are responsible for maintencae and repairs. I have been in five different hotels. Telephone: 0808 801 0503 For example, a website may provide you with local weather reports or traffic news by storing data about your current location. 75 talking about this. These contracts involve providing housing for thousands of asylum seekers who have been dispersed to those areas by the Home Office while they apply for refugee status. Without this, the overall worth of the company according to its accounts would drop from 210 million to just 15 million. In West and South Yorkshire there was a 13 percent increase in asylum seekers in accommodation, from 5,198 to 5,865, in around 1,500 properties. The company agreed to raise and equalise wages after 80 days of strikes. The finance director, C.M. T: +61 (0)2 9964 9733 F: +61 (0)2 9964 9924 MEA House box of lies online generator list of hotels housing asylum seekers in scotland Mears shared are listed on the London Stock Exchange. Newcastle upon Tyne. There is a Mears guy up in Newcastle who has told us he is responsible for 500 properties and has no record of the landlords. Another landlord with eight asylum houses on the G4S contract told me of longstanding tenants contacting him, frightened because Mears repair staff had been in a property and disconnected the fire alarms and smoke detectors and told tenants that someone would return to repair them. Newcastle upon Tyne Ruth and the other mothers in a Sheffield Mears mother and toddler asylum house could not get through to Mears to fix their boiler, and faced a cold Christmas day without heating and hot water. These items are required to enable basic website functionality. I would like to thank all those individuals, in particular Terry, who gave their time and testimonies to jointly create this piece. Newcastle upon Tyne Mears will establish operational teams in each of the areas for which we are responsible so that we are in a position to provide the best possible performance, within the terms of the contract. We have a formal complaints process which aims to make sure all formal complaints are recorded, investigated and responded to fairly and in a timely manner. 11:43, 25 JAN 2023. Barnsley Council served an enforcement order on the two properties they had licensed as HMOs, demanding action on cleaning and repairs and giving Mears a time limit. Both Serco and G4S complained of losing large sums of money on the previous deals. Dont worry we wont send you spam or share your email address with anyone. Michael, who invited me into one property, showed me a blocked toilet upstairs. Telephone: 0808 801 0503. NE1 8XS Main picture: a Mears sponsored networking event with senior council and housing association managers. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. But the plastering scam was not an isolated incident. As of 2017, the last year for which full financial results are available, Mears had not increased its levels of borrowing, even with its move into housing development rather than simply maintenance. When I got through, they said they thought I was homeless and not in the hotel. While those seeking asylum have no choice over where in the UK they are dispersed to, we take great pride in the fact that so many refugees chose to settle here once their claim for asylum is determined. It explained what this means in a June 2018 investor presentation. In Yorkshire and the North East, Mears is replacing G4S whose asylum housing has been notorious for squalor, infestations, and scandal when racist vigilantes attacked homes whose doors had been painted an identical red colour. These items help the website operator understand how its website performs, how visitors interact with the site, and whether there may be technical issues. Added to this, Mears like Serco and the rest does not own a vast array of tangible assets such as buildings, land or equipment that it could sell or rent out in the event it needed to raise cash (but see the housing section, above, for details of Mears current attempts to change that). Houston, Texas 77008. According to Mears 2017 accounts, the value of its long term assets add up to 237 million. Mears home care operations only broke even in 2017. Cllr Wood said Sheffield, too, was prioritising inspections of asylum houses and concentrating resources there. As of 2017, Mears has the ability to borrow 170 million through those deals if required, plus a new 30 million pot it can access for its new scheme to buy property before selling them onto to long-term developers (see the housing section). Finally, Mears has also started to develop and build houses itself, particularly as part of regeneration schemes. The midwife told Mears that the woman had a serious iron deficiency and suggested food she should eat nothing was done about this by the Mears man. He then moved to Mears in 2013. A new contract to house the 5,000 or so asylum seekers resident in Glasgow with Mears Group has started, but while the new operator has announced it will not carry out "lock change" evictions . The scheme is a 50/50 Joint Venture with the council. Muslim women with the headscarf were really terrified and very afraid for their children.. Carrollton, TX Mears claim to provide rapid response repairs but all they do is avoid responsibility and sparing on repair costs. Almost 100 million of the goodwill is for the home care businesses Mears has bought (see the section on home care above for details). Don't let the name fool you: inside you'll find modern, cleanly decorated spaces that are ideal for student living, with different options to suit different tastes and needs. I take them from the cleaners trolley and give to the women. According to its latest annual report, Mears works on over 14% over 650,000 of the social homes in the UK. He then worked from 2004-15 as a partner and senior advisor at Gleacher Shacklock, a corporate finance consultancy set up by another ex-Dresdner banker. They are listed as non profit but are companies limited by guarantee rather than charities. In short: allegations have flown thick and fast around the Mears Scotland contract, and there is no doubt that the council leader was close to Mears executives. Western Avenue Mears Limited 821 000 0004 Northern Ireland Mears Limited 113 000 0005 North West Serco Limited 1 079 000 0006 Scotland Mears Limited 514 000 0007 South Clearsprings Ready Homes 662 000 0008 Wales Clearsprings Ready Homes 334 000 0009 Total value of contracts 4 553 000 000 Serco: 2 109 000 000 Mears: 1 448 000 000 All rights reserved. Flexible and commission-free service at competitive rates. Miles is a long-term Mears manager. This division still makes up over three quarters of Mears housing business. But there may also be something more. In a statement, Mears Group said due to a significant rise in the numbers of people seeking asylum, hotels are being used to accommodate people until more homes can be prioritised. Calls are free, open 24/7/365 and accessible to all asylum seekers in the UK. Experience of managing around 17,000 homes in collaboration with landlords across the UK. Alternatively you can write to us on: Migrant Help, Charlton House, Dour Street, Dover, CT16 1AT. Later that year, the chief executive of North Lanarkshire asked police to review separate claims that McCabe had been on a holiday to Turkey with another Mears executive, Steve Kelly. Aurora, Illinois. To receive updates on homelessness prevention and financial inclusion related services, provision and changes linked to the Coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic, please subscribe to the Active Inclusion Newcastle information update by emailing activeinclusion@newcastle.gov.uk. Advertising networks usually place them with the website operators permission. However, Mears two biggest shareholders see themselves as activist investors that involve themselves in the running of their companies. These items allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language, or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. If you have no other means of support you will be provided with accommodation on a no choice basis by one of UKVIs contracted accommodation providers; in Newcastle the housing provider is Mears. The Local Authority is not responsible for placing or accommodating asylum seekers. 866-435-5686. But these all depend on increased local authority funding, which is hard to predict with any confidence. The majority of the IRRs work is free to access. Mears is clear about how Plexus and Omega can play this role, saying that its affordable housing arms assist and support developers on section 106 agreements.. Since September, there have been continual massive delays in the passing on of tenants requests for repairs from Migrant Help to Mears, which Migrant Help puts down to teething problems and high demand. David, the teenage son of the family who met me at the house, said, We have an electric shower, so we go and have a shower when we need to warm up. David was concerned about his sister: She has something like asthma, and the cold in the house means she has had colds and infections and time off school and had to go to hospital. In November, lone mother Ruths boiler failed for the first time. Mears lost out to rival outsourcer Amey. What next for the Mears asylum contract in South Yorkshire? This scenario has been playing out across the UK since September 2019, when three companies Serco, Clearsprings and the Mears Group took over the Home Office contract for the provision of asylum housing for asylum seekers awaiting decisions (currently 48,000). The Home Office operate a number of regional contracts to facilitate this. Its critical that ministers recognise this crisis and act to ensure some of the most vulnerable people in our society are protected. In early November, the Independent reported on Mears cases in Halifax, Leeds and Sheffield where Asylum seekers (were) left in houses with no heating in rat-infested homes. But we have no way of knowing the true scale of harm or dangerous situations resulting from the new contracts. It has recently won the 1.15 billion Home Office contract to provide asylum seeker housing in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Yorkshire and the North East of England. Terry, a design manager speaking fluent English, told me of his concerns about everyday life in the hotels. Elizabeth Corrado is linked to the booming world of social finance, where investment banking meets philanthropy for a profit, of course. Corporate Watch We deliver a range of property services, including delivering reactive repairs, planned and cyclical maintenance services to over 100 local authorities and housing . Until 2012 he worked at Orchard & Shipman, another property management company. They have no idea where some people are., Terry showed me a text from Migrant Help saying that he was to be evicted. In Urban House, residents are means-tested to see whether they should be given support (furnished and serviced accommodation plus around 5 a day), and those eligible should, after a few weeks, be dispersed to asylum housing. While profits and payouts remain healthy, Mears financial profile shares many similarities with those of troubled outsourcing firms such as Interserve and Carillion, with potentially few resources to fall back on if contracts are lost or government spending is cut further. Most of the rest, 194 million, were made up of goodwill. More than 20 people have tested positive at . In July 2015, council leader Jim McCabe was reported by opposition councillors to the Public Standards Commissioner. Croft House You have accepted additional cookies. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. 41.9 million (2016) Number of employees. Our role is in liaison with these private contractors to try and ensure that they can respond to local circumstances and to then manage the move-on arrangements when people are granted refugee status. UKVI are responsible for making a decision on your asylum claim and providing you with accommodation and financial support while you are waiting. . Blocking categories may impact your experience on the website. Heber City, UT In the four South Yorkshire council areas there are around 2,000 asylum seekers in asylum housing, with Sheffield having around 900. Phone Number: 1-989-433-2929: Mears Group, Inc. industries Building: Headquarters Location: 5051 Westheimer Rd, Houston, Texas . I dont know how families with children can exist. Continuing delays, disrepair and insanitary conditions have caused one local authority to decide it will tell the Home Office to end its contract with the Mears Group, and will take asylum housing back in-house. When you visit websites, they may store or retrieve data in your browser. Thank you very much for your comments and for your solidarity with Mears tenants in asylum housing How does Terraquest fit into Mears strategy? When we investigated Mears in our Home Care Business report two years ago, we found the company appeared, on the whole, to be providing a better service than its for-profit rivals. In an investor briefing last year, Mears management said they had decided to turn their focus to bigger deals, particularly from central government: Evolution of business means we are gaining access to opportunities previously out of our reach.. Rockledge, FL If you have had a negative decision on your asylum claim then you will also be expected to leave your asylum accommodation and your financial support will stop. I have been living in hotels since 8 October 2019, he told me. We will immediately start work on the Mobilisation so that we are ready to meet the needs of asylum seekers and their host communities., Mears awarded three Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts. Goodwill amounts to over 40% of Mears total assets a bigger proportion than Interserve and Mitie, slightly less than Serco and Capita. Ahead of a press conference on Monday morning, Ms Qureshi said: "While the people of Glasgow pick up the pieces of Mears' neglect and provide human support, Mears Group picks up a 1 billion . It also has other business lines including employer security checks. In some cases, for example in Manchester or North Lanarkshire, Mears works through joint venture companies set up together with local authorities. In summer 2017, we completed a 3 million refurbishment project to breathe new life into this lovely listed building, with 409 rooms for you to choose from. Before joining Mears in 2012, Willie was head of Glasgows arms length company City Building, which was spun-off from the city councils old building services department and became embroiled in scandals over awarding contracts to several Labour Party donors. NE4 5JE For general enquiries contact our office at: Serco Limited Enterprise House . You will receive notice to leave the accommodation within 21 days. It is based in Gloucestershire, but works all over the UK. Another was pushing councils to contract out repairs and other services to the private sector. The Mears Group, which has the Home Office contract to house asylum seekers in Glasgow has been heavily criticised for its decision to move around 400 asylum seekers in Glasgow claiming it was . Last week I was sent video material of bed bugs crawling on woodwork in a Bradford asylum house where people had been placed from Urban House. She is former Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust and also now a director of Yorkshire Water. Together they are worth 1.15 billion over ten years. Moreover, Mears understands the importance of supporting each person whilst living in its accommodation and to ensure that as a company it works with the communities in which it delivers services. The national portal is set up by the governments Ministry of Homes, Communities and Local Governments. Terrorist police came and were hidden in the gardens and parts of the hotel. Listed below are details of how you can get help with core services: Housing - Depending on your situation, you have several options: Council Housing - Your Homes Newcastle (YHN) provides housing on behalf of the Council. Image Library. In a recent June survey, a majority of asylum seekers in hotels have rated the food provided either okay, good or very good. And I can prove that beyond any doubt. McCabe did take gifts of dinners, whiskey and chocolates from Mears, but these were legally declared on the councils website. Childrens Panel (England only) In October a letter to then Home Office minister Victoria Atkins, signed by more than 100charities, warned that the new repairs reporting and advice system was causing needless suffering among those it is meant to protect, and called on the government to take urgent action to address the situation. Social housing specialist Mears Group PLC has been handed contracts worth 1bn from the UK government - a sizeable deal for a company with market capitalisation of less than 400mln. The trade union Unite announced victory in its strike over a pay dispute with Mears in Manchester in February 2018. Do you have information about Mears youd like to share with us? We will try to sort things out quickly and informally, but if you wish to log your issue as a formal complaint, we will investigate it accordingly. I visited two of the houses where, despite the fact that communal areas were really dirty, there was no evidence of recent cleaning (the visitation log mentioned cleaning on 8 October 2019). Executive Offices. You may be able to get housing and money to support you and your family while you're waiting to find out if you'll be given asylum. In its last annual report, for 2017, Mears work brought in revenues of 900 million. This is under the control of the Home Office and the UK Visas and Immigration department who decide who can legally reside in the UK. The joint venture is now called Mears Scotland, with Mears holding 67% of the stock and the council 33%. Urban House is very unpopular with asylum seekers. This was slightly down on the previous year but overall Mears has grown quickly. NE4 8SR The Mears home care business struggles to break even and to keep care workers, unsurprising given the infamously low rates of pay in the sector. Meanwhile, Mears top brass receive handsome rewards. Asylum housing tenants simply do not complain, and are often frightened about challenging any official, including their landlord. Mears is being hit by multiple scandals. . At the end of 2017, Omega managed around 1,000 properties, and Plexus over 1,700. At the time of writing, the top five biggest stakes are held by investment funds: Most companies on the stock market have similar ownership profiles, with no single investor having close to a majority stake. We relet properties with them on the promise from Chris that everything would . All rights reserved. For more details visit, To receive updates on homelessness prevention and financial inclusion related services, provision and changes linked to the Coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic, please, subscribe to the Active Inclusion Newcastle information update by emailing.
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