Talks will be held with a government minister after it was revealed Middlesbrough has the highest proportion of asylum seekers in the country.
As reported, Middlesbrough is the only place in the country to breach national guidelines on the number of asylum seekers.
Now Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald is to meet with MP James Brokenshire, Minister for Security and Immigration at the Home Office, to discuss the issue.
Mr McDonald said he was “proud” to live in a country “where we offer sanctuary and solace to people in such circumstances”
The Labour MP added: “People seeking asylum have fled their home country for a whole number of reasons, with many escaping death and torture.
“I have already spoken in person to the relevant Minister, James Brokenshire, about the ability of the statutory authorities to properly respond in circumstances where the numbers seeking asylum exceed Government limits in any given area.
“We have agreed to meet formally in the coming weeks and I look forward to securing some assurances from him in this regard.”
The Government says that no local authority area should need to accommodate more than one asylum seeker per 200 of population.
But a Middlesbrough Council report has revealed almost 1,000 asylum seekers are currently being housed in Middlesbrough - almost 1.5 times the Government limit.
In Redcar and Cleveland, however, there is just one household of asylum seekers in the borough.
A spokesman for Redcar and Cleveland Council said: “In Redcar and Cleveland G4S’s preferred housing provider, a private landlord, has only one property and the number of asylum seekers is believed to be in single figures.”
The figures for Stockton are currently unknown as the Home Office does not break down figures into boroughs from national statistics and Stockton Council does not collate the information.
Most asylum seekers are sent to homes around the UK while the Home Office decides whether to grant them asylum - a process which can take up to a year.
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