SYRIAN refugees could bypass the normal procedure for getting people into social housing, as part of Furness' commitment to help vulnerable families fleeing the war-torn country. 

Barrow Borough Council's housing forum will discuss plans for accommodating refugees when it meets this week.  

It was announced earlier this month that 30 family groups are bound for Cumbria and will be in the county before Christmas.  

Details on where the families - resettled from camps in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan - will be re-settled have yet to be determined. 

But at the meeting in the town hall on Thursday, councillors on the housing forum will be recommended to agree to the council's housing director helping with the resettlement process in the county - and to consider all options for providing accommodation, should it be needed. 

They have also been recommended to agree that the housing director, Colin Garnett, is authorised to make accommodation available from the council's housing stock.

If the accommodation is needed, councillors are being urged to ditch the normal choice-based lettings system, as it has been deemed "impractical" under these circumstances. 

Mr Garnett, who is also looking into the possibility of other landlords getting involved, has been part of teleconferences organised by Cumbria County Council to prepare for the arrival of Syrian refugees. 

In his report for the meeting, he said: "We are unique in Cumbria in still retaining our own housing stock. 

"However, it is normal practice to allocate property that becomes available through our choice-based lettings scheme. 

"I would suggest such an approach would not be practical should members agree to contribute to the process by making our own stock available. 

"Should you choose to do so, I would suggest you delegate responsibility to me to make appropriate residential property available for this purpose outside the normal requirements of the choice-based lettings system.

"I will continue to participate in the county-wide discussions to develop an appropriate plan to resettle the Syrian refugees. 

"I will also be investigating the option to provide accommodation from other landlords in the borough."

The cost of resettling the refugees will not be passed to the council.

The government has confirmed the full cost of the resettlement process will be met from central funds, but the process of how this will be operated across Cumbria is still to be finalised. 

Resettling the incoming refugees, who have been judged to be most at risk, into communities will require a number of agencies working together, the report added.