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The move last week by immigration minister Beverley Hughes to regionalise the National Asylum Support Service has been welcomed by refugee campaigners who have been calling for the change since Nass was set up in 1999.

Nass is to open 12 regional offices as bases for half its staff. The government hopes the change will help the organisation be more responsive to local issues in key areas such as social cohesion and help to improve the dispersal process.

The regionalised functions will be housing contract management and outreach staff, who will ensure that asylum seekers arrive safely in the area and liaise with local staff to resolve problems.


The investigation into cases of abuse of the support system and the reporting of antisocial behaviour by asylum seekers and racial harassment will also be devolved.

Anna Reisenberger, director of development at the Refugee Council, said the charity "very much" welcomed the move.

"It will enable Nass to work more closely with local services to improve support for asylum seekers as well as improving the overall management of the dispersal system," she said.

Nadeem Ahmad, regional manager of the North East Consortium for Asylum Support Services, said: "This is a positive step and it is now up to us and our regional colleagues at Nass to develop better understanding and knowledge."

When Nass was established, the consortium had great difficulty finding staff in the Croydon headquarters to resolve difficulties. Under the new arrangements, there will be 40 to 50 Nass staff in the region, "a major shift" compared with the beginning of the year, Ahmad said.


Refugee Action also welcomed the move, but Southampton team manager Kathy Bogan warned that the functions devolved to the regional offices were limited. "It is a good move but let's see how it works in practice," she said.

Bogan said that, because the regional Nass office covering Southampton would be in Dover, the Refugee Action Southampton office would be closer to Nass's existing headquarters in Croydon.

But she acknowledged that, where the charity's offices were located near Nass's new regional offices, such as Bristol or Liverpool, working relationships were likely to improve.