Drop in number of asylum seekers
10:32am Monday 2nd October 2006 in News By Staff Reporter
NEW figures show Bolton has 750 people currently seeking asylum - a 50 per cent drop since 2002.
Jon Lord, Bolton Council's head of community housing services, said asylum seekers, refugees and migrant workers had little effect on housing in the town.
And he said asylum seekers in Bolton were not being placed in any particular area of the town but were given homes across the borough.
Mr Lord spoke about the issue after residents raised concerns that asylum seekers were "overrunning" Farnworth and Kearsley.
The housing boss gave a presentation at a public meeting in Farnworth to dispel the rumours.
Mr Lord said there were fewer asylum seekers within the Farnworth and Kearsley area than elsewhere in the borough, with the majority in the Moses Gate area.
Around 200 refugees settled in Bolton every year, he said.
The number of migrant workers in the borough was much more difficult to quantify as a significant number were not thought to have a National Insurance number but it was not thought to be higher than other similar status towns in the UK.
Farnworth and Kearsley ward councillor James Lord said: "Mr Lord kindly agreed to give a report and answer our questions.
"We got to hear the facts and I think it's helped dispel a lot of myths."
