Conclusion
45. We are clear from our experience of this programme that other than as transit centres for the initial screening of refugees and then matching with accommodation, over a period of perhaps 3 months, reception centres serve little purpose in preparing refugees for settlement. It is early and planned settlement in the community which will be important for any future major refugee programme. There can be no stereotype for achieving this; needs will vary depending on the characteristics of the particular refugee community. The only constant which we must assume is that resources will be limited and ought to be used to best effect. It is worth noting that if the average time spent in reception in this programme, 5.9 months, could have been reduced to 3 months, substantial savings could have been made. With hindsight it might have been better to provide a measure of financial support to the local authorities which received the Vietnamese in their areas thus increasing their willingness to make offers of housing, than to concentrate financial support on the prolonged reception stage.
We
45. The relationship between central and local government and the refugee agencies, and the experience which each brings of this and of previous refugee programmes, make it imperative that Government establish machinery to ensure that all those likely to be involved are consulted in good time and at appropriate stages in determining the reception and settlement policy. would urge also that any policy decided upon should encompass built-in rasearch which can produce a measure of its effectiveness and of the needs of the refugees; and that in examining local resources it should have regard to the need for specialist training of staff including the use of suitable people from the refugee community itself.
11.