Reform MP Rupert Lowe has slammed Cambridge City Council for advertising a job contract for ‘asylum seekers and refugees’ worth £250k that includes in its list of requirements promoting ‘anti-racism’ practices.
The MP for Great Yarmouth branded the contract a “disgrace”, telling his 285,000 followers on X that “It’s OUR money funding this” and “We are being RIPPED OFF”.
The contract, titled ‘The Provision of Specialist advice and support for asylum seekers and refugees’, has been open to applicants since February 10. The contract is worth £250,000 and must be delivered by 31 March 2028.
The job description reads: ‘Cambridge City Council supports the resettlement of displaced people who have travelled to the UK on various routes. As a Council, we recognise that world events can quickly influence what is required of a service for asylum seekers and refugees.
‘Therefore, it is important that any service is flexible to these needs and has an existing understanding of different customs and cultures, as well as a passion to work in this field.’
Cambridge City Council has sparked backlash advertising £250k asylum seekers contract
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Included in the list of responsibilities, which are not “exhaustive and is likely to change over time”, is to “Understand and work to tackle institutional discrimination through promoting anti-racist practice”.
In addition, the winning provider will be expected to “advocate for the rights of asylum seekers and refugees” and “promote cultural activities within the city”.
Here’s the full list of responsibilities:
- UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS)
- Homes for Ukraine (HfU) and Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE)
- Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) and Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS)
- Post-decision refugees – who have been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection and are no longer subject to immigration control
- British National (Overseas) visa holders
- Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC)
- Any family reunification schemes As a service you must provide specialist advice, information, and support as required to asylum seekers and refugees. This will include the below and full details are provided within the specification:
- Specialist advice, information, and support to asylum seekers and refugees
- Act as a point of contact for community groups, charities, and other agencies for the latest information and issues facing asylum seekers and refugees • Advocate for the rights of asylum seekers and refugees
- Host and engage with relevant networking opportunities and events
- Organise and promote cultural activities within the city
- Have an office space in Cambridge city that clients can attend in-person
- Provide interpreting services as required for one-to-one work clients as well as any promotional materials
- Offer OISC-accredited immigration advice and support with immigration applications, such as assisting with Home Office applications
- Hold local knowledge on the challenges and opportunities facing residents in Cambridge – working to overcome challenges and seize opportunities.
- Understand and work to tackle institutional discrimination through promoting anti-racist practice
- Awareness of the impacts of crime and how to support victims of crime, such as domestic abuse, hate crime, and modern slavery
- Budgeting and financial advice, including welfare benefits
- Employability rights and volunteering opportunities
- Housing options and advic
- Household support, such as furniture, food, and energy poverty
- Hold an exemplary reputation in the community with the ability to allay any misinformation or community tension, having the ability to bring community groups together safely to resolve disputes and promote cohesion
- Health awareness
- Trauma-informed approach to wellbeing services • Awareness of ESOL opportunities
The contract has sparked backlash on X, with one user writing: “I pay council tax in Cambridge, and I am indeed outraged.”
A second user branded the contract an “absolute disgrace”, agreeing with Lowe that “we are being ripped off on a massive scale”.
A third called for the Reform MP to head up the UK equivalent of DOGE – the Elon Musk-led advisory body to Donald Trump that’s cutting wasteful government spending.
Meanwhile, a fourth user said they were not surprised by contract, claiming that the council “has long been woke”.
Lowe went on to suggest that this is just the tip of the iceberg as “I’ve found over 200 contracts doing similar, worth at least £6.6billion”.
LATEST MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENTS
Prepare to be angry (this is one example of MANY).
Cambridge City Council is currently advertising a contract worth £250,000 to do the following for ‘asylum seekers and refugees.’
‘Budgeting and financial advice, including welfare benefits’
‘Organise and promote cultural…
— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) February 10, 2025
The MP has also been a vocal critic of the growing trend towards quota-based hiring over merit-based selection in public sector organisations.
The Reform UK MP warned that DEI practices are becoming widespread across Britain’s institutions.
“The cancer of DEI is running deep through Britain. It’s running deep through the public sector, it runs deep through a lot of the big multinationals,” he told GB News last month.
He argued that such policies would not exist in private companies, where merit-based hiring is essential.
“If it was a private company it wouldn’t happen, because people need people based on merit, nothing else,” Lowe added.
In response to a request for comment, a Cambridge City Council spokesperson said: ‘The formal resettlement schemes for refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine were introduced by the previous government and continued by the current government. The scheme requires local authorities to deliver support for refugees settled through these programmes as well as asylum seekers whose asylum claims are granted and are living in and around Cambridge.
“We receive funding from central government to deliver these services in line with what is expected of councils across the country.
“In Cambridge, we know that our residents are particularly supportive of people seeking refuge – in 2022 hundreds opened their homes to enable people to leave Ukraine when the war broke out – and as a council we are proudly a city of sanctuary, happy to support people who have left everything behind to seek safety.”