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Written question asked by Jim McMahon (Labour) on Monday, 18 March 2024, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 20 March 2024. It was answered by Tom Pursglove (Conservative) on Tuesday, 26 March 2024 on behalf of the Home Office.

Asylum: Hotels

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of hotel use for asylum seekers on community cohesion in Oldham; and when he plans to end the use of temporary accommodation for asylum seekers.

Answer

Asylum hotels were only ever a temporary measure, in response to an unprecedented spike in small boat arrivals and the statutory requirement to accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. The Government has always been clear that they are an inappropriate form of accommodation and that we must stop using them as soon as possible.

Wherever hotels are used, the Home Office works in partnership with local authorities and other statutory partners, including through multi-agency forum (MAF) meetings. These consider, amongst other things, community cohesion issues.

We will have closed 100 hotels by the end of March. We continue to work with our providers on closing further hotels across the estate and will write to local authorities and MPs when a decision to close a site has been made.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
19128
Session
2023-24
Subjects
Asylum Community relations Hotels Temporary accommodation Oldham
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk