Bristol Sanctuary Strategy 2025-2030 consultation

Overview

In this consultation, we ask for your views on the draft Bristol Sanctuary Strategy 2025 to 2030 and the Sanctuary Action Plan.

The strategy and action plan set out Bristol City Council’s approach to supporting sanctuary seekers who call Bristol their home. A sanctuary seeker is someone who is any of the following, regardless of their background and immigration status:

• a refugee
• a person seeking asylum
• someone with No Recourse to Public Funds

‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ means the person cannot claim most benefits, tax credits or housing assistance that are paid by the state.

To ensure sanctuary seekers can integrate with existing communities, it is essential to give them support so they can:

• find jobs
• learn about life and culture in the UK
• access housing and health services

We are aware that people may have a diverse range of views on supporting refugees and asylum seekers. Bristol City Council is responsible for fulfilling the legal and statutory obligations set by national government. These are things we must do by law.

Funding for actions set within this strategy comes from national government grants, not Council Tax. The amount of money each local authority gets in grants is based on the number of asylum seekers living in a local authority area on 30 March each year. We do not believe supporting sanctuary seekers comes at the expense of existing communities.

What are we proposing

Our vision is that Bristol is a city of safety, a welcoming place where people seeking sanctuary are provided with the support, services and opportunity to rebuild lives and thrive in our communities from the day they arrive.

The strategy has 3 priorities:

• Meeting Basic Needs. This means that Bristol is a place where all sanctuary seekers have access to essential services to foster stability and security from the day they arrive.
• Promoting Opportunity. This means that Bristol is a place where all sanctuary seekers can build independent lives through suitable homes and health services and access to education, training and skills.
• Compassionate and Resilient Communities. This means that Bristol is a place where all sanctuary seekers feel accepted, thrive and participate fully in life in the city as part of friendly and welcoming communities.

These 3 priorities have been developed from the Strategic Needs Assessment of Asylum Seekers and Refugees. In Spring 2025, we engaged with 81 sanctuary seekers through focus groups and 166 online survey responses to provide feedback on these priorities. There was at least 78% approval for each priority in the survey responses.

We have now identified a range of actions which support the 3 priorities under 11 focus areas. This consultation will provide more information on the focus areas and actions for each priority. We ask you for your views on these.

If you would like to read the full strategy and action plan, you can do so here:

•  Bristol Sanctuary Strategy 2025-2030 - draft for consultation 
• Sanctuary Action Plan - draft for consultation