THE county is being “left in the dark” over how to help with the Syrian refugee crisis.

It has been more than five weeks since Prime Minister David Cameron announced the Government’s plans to help resettle 20,000 Syrians fleeing civil war on September 7.

Religious leaders, councils and MPs have all volunteered to help those making the journey from the Middle East, but have complained there is a lack of information from the Government.

In Oxford, where the city council announced a pilot to offer 10 privately-rented homes for refugees, leader Bob Price said the authority could not move forward with the plan until the Home Office guaranteed extra funding.

The department is co-ordinating the relocation programme in Britain and said it could not provide more than local housing allowance rates to pay for accommodation.

Council leaders say this is not enough because of the county’s high property prices and last week met with officials to raise concerns.

Mr Price said: “We have a community and set of voluntary organisations that are probably second to none in terms of being able to cope with taking on refugees.

“But there is a mismatch of the Government’s willingness to spend the money and our willingness to accept people.

“Its response has been slow and has distanced local authorities from the Home Office by having to work through a regional hub in Reading.

“We are still very much in the dark.”

City council assistant chief executive Caroline Green, who has been leading negotiations with the Home Office, said: “Our ambition remains to play our part and there is a lot of will to make faster progress.

“There is clearly a lot of frustration, because people want to see things move on.”

The county’s four other district councils are understood to have not yet put forward a formal offer.

Oxfordshire County Council leader Ian Hudspeth said his authority was “playing the waiting game” for more information from the Government as it looked to see how it could help more unaccompanied asylum-seeker children.

He said: “We are keen to hear more.”

Cherwell District Council leader Barry Wood said his authority would back a county-wide partnership to support incoming refugees.

He added: “At this stage it is not possible for the council to be specific about the resources that we would be in a position to provide.”

And West Oxfordshire District Council said it was also waiting on more information from the Government.

But religious leaders in Oxford said there was growing frustration at the lack of direction from councils and the Government.

Hojjat Ramzy, Imam and director of Cowley’s Oxford Islamic Information Centre, said more than 50 families across the city had been in touch about providing space within their homes for refugees.

The centre set up a hotline for people to get in touch about how they could help but Dr Ramzy said there was “no point” asking people if they have space within their homes when instructions had not been provided on how residents can support refugees.

He added: “We are waiting for the councils to tell us how many refugees are coming here [Oxford].”

Oxford Mail:

Acting Bishop of Oxford Colin Fletcher, the Bishop of Dorchester, added: “There have been a range of responses across Oxfordshire to this crisis but I would like to see the number of refugees this country has committed to take increased, as the situation in Syria at the moment really is desperate.”

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith said he had received a “huge number of emails from constituents” supporting help for refugees. He added: “There is an urgent need for the Home Office to spell out the support they will make available.”

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood said she had “spoken personally to the Immigration Minister and the new Minister for Syrian Refugees” asking for “greater clarity” over the best way to respond to the crisis.

But David Cameron defended the Government and said he remained committed to his pledge.

He added: “This is a complicated situation and the expansion of the scheme needs careful and meticulous planning to ensure we get it right. “The UK has been at the forefront of the international response to the humanitarian crisis, providing more than £1.1bn in aid, and the British people have been forthcoming in their offers of support. “We are looking to harness these strong offers of assistance to resettle people who are in desperate need of our help.”

Conservative MPs Ed Vaizey, who represents Wantage; Victoria Prentis, who represents Banbury; and John Howell, who represents Henley, did not respond to requests for comment.

It came as more than 300 lawyers, including a former president of the Supreme Court, signed an open letter criticising the Government’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis as “deeply inadequate”.

They include several retired judges with links to Oxford colleges, as well as three senior Oxford University academics.

The university has also offered to expand its involvement in the Council for At Risk Academics scheme, which would see academics from Syria stay in Oxford.