ET MON
CONFIDENTIAL
HKD 243/12
RECI
12 NOV 1923
Air Hin
Department of the Environment
Room N9/07A
2 Marsham Street London SW1P 3EB
Telex 22221
Direct line 01-20 276 4598 Switchboard 01-212 3434
GTN 212
IN
Mrs Bronwen Fair
The Home Office
50 Queen Anne's Gate London
SW1
11 November 1988
Dear Mrs Fair
1. JK-N17111
Mys SKAFFPA
N
17/0
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
Thank you for copying to me your letter of 8 November about Vietnamese refugees.
My only comment on the draft note to the Prime Minister is that it probably underplays the difficulties that
that housing agencies will face in accommodating the new arrivals. The majority of those joining family members will presumably settle in London and other housing stress areas where most Vietnamese now live. A further influx is likely to exacerbate local authorities' problems, at a time when Ministers are looking to them to develop their role as strategic planners and enablers rather than as direct providers of housing. This suggests that there may well be difficulties in finding permanent housing for those new arrivals going initially into reception centres.
It is of course for local authorities to decide how to allocate their available resources according to their judgment of competing local needs. There would be no question of Housing Ministers seeking to influence their judgment or providing additional resources for this purpose.
17
Against this background may I suggest that some amendment is made to paragraph 10 of the draft note. The sentence over the page beginning "There is moreover..
strikes altogether too optimistic a note and should in my view be deleted. In its place I suggest а sentence along the following lines, "But we anticipate that some housing agencies will be hard pressed to find accommodation for the new intake".
I am copying this letter to the recipients of yours.
Yours sincerely
Peterhadley
PJ RADLEY
HOUSING MANAGEMENT POLICY
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