THE Government is facing mounting pressure to make the process of dispersing asylum seekers fairer amid growing evidence that disproportionate numbers are being housed in the poorest areas.

Figures obtained from the Home Office by The Northern Echo show that in the last quarter of last year there were 867 asylum seekers housed in Stockton in receipt of so-called section 95 funding, which pays for accommodation and subsistence costs while applications are being processed.

This was the highest figure of any local authority area in the region, followed by 797 in Newcastle and 589 asylum seekers in Middlesbrough, which has in the past breached Government guidelines of having no more than one in 200 per head of population.

But in arguably wealthier areas such as North Yorkshire just two supported asylum seekers fell into this category, both in Harrogate. In Northumbria the figure was 19.

Darlington now has 38 asylum seekers, recent figures show, a total a council spokesman said was “manageable”.

Participation in the asylum seeker dispersal system operated by the Government is voluntary and those that do volunteer receive no additional funding to assist with the costs of education or health services.

The Echo has learnt that North Yorkshire County Council officials are due to meet Home Office representatives next month after it wrote to all councils asking them to join the scheme.

Other councils such as Durham County Council, which, separately is in the process of supporting up to 200 Syrian refugees, are also considering their options.

Labour’s Yvette Cooper, the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, which published a damning report into asylum accommodation in January, has called asylum dispersal arrangements a “deeply unfair shambles”.

Analysis shows that five times as many asylum seekers live in the poorest third of England as in the richest third.

The MP said it wasn’t good for community cohesion to have asylum seekers concentrated in a very small number of lower income areas and it created a “sense of resentment”.

She said that problems stemmed from a change of policy in 2012 by the Conservatives which saw contracts for housing asylum seekers privatised and given to G4S, Serco and Clearsprings.

This inevitably meant they procured cheap housing in poor parts of the country in order to maximise profit.

In written evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, G4S, which has the contract for the North-East and Yorkshire, said the “unwillingness of local authorities to allow placement of asylum seekers in their areas is entrenched” and claimed the Home Office was considering using powers to compel participation.

Managing director for immigration and borders, John Whitwam said: “The challenge we face is finding accommodation and then securing relevant local authority approval to use it.

“We are working very closely with local authorities that do not currently house asylum seekers under this programme to open new areas and therefore make available more housing.”

Last year G4S subcontractor Jomast was at the centre of controversy after it was accused of painting doors red in the Middlesbrough neighbourhood of Gresham to identify asylum seekers’ homes. It denied that such a policy existed.

Council chiefs in the town have since been in discussions with the Home Office about bringing asylum seeker numbers down to more equitable levels.

Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald said: “I agree there should be a greater participation across the country and a fairer scheme.

“Middlesbrough has been at the forefront in terms of doing its bit and if other boroughs did a fraction of what we do people wouldn’t notice asylum seekers were here.”

He added: “The whole thing is predicated upon how much money contractors and sub-contractors, who are hoovering up cheap housing, can make and there has got to be a better, more humane way of doing things.”

Kath Sainsbury, a senior case worker with the Stockton-based organisation Justice First, which supports asylum seekers with appeal cases, said: “Local authorities are best placed to look at the needs of vulnerable people, but you have to put support networks in place and have the properties available.

“If you dot people around they can also become quite isolated, but councils have to act responsibly and when people are in desperate need it is up to us all to work together and offer them sanctuary and support.”

A spokesman for the Home Office said asylum seekers who required support were housed where there was appropriate accommodation available.

He said: “Our dispersal policy ensures a reasonable spread amongst UK local authorities.

"We have worked hard to encourage more local authorities to participate in accommodating asylum seekers and ensure this duty is shared across the UK.”