Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Asylum Accommodation: Hotels

Monday 3 July 2023 · 5 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Home Office seeks to end the use of hotels and to move asylum seekers to less expensive, more suitable accommodation.
  • The policy aims to save the taxpayer at least a quarter of a billion pounds by maximising hotel capacity.
  • Local police forces and Home Office personnel treat young people going missing from hotels exactly as they would any other child.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Jeff Smith Lab Manchester Withington
Asylum & Refugees
Context

The use of hotels for asylum seekers is under scrutiny.

Question

What recent progress her Department has made on reducing the use of hotels as contingency asylum accommodation?

Answer from Robert Jenrick

The Home Office seeks to end the use of hotels and to move asylum seekers to less expensive, more suitable accommodation. To support that, we are bringing into use large, disused military sites and vessels, which will provide adequate, safe, secure, non-detained accommodation for asylum seekers and also reduce the pull factor to the United Kingdom.

Answered
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Q2 Paulette Hamilton Lab Birmingham Erdington
Asylum & Refugees
Context

The Home Office sent a contradictory email stating that the use of hotels is inappropriate yet plans to increase usage by 159%.

Question

How on earth can the Minister expect the country to trust him when he cannot even keep his policies consistent within the same email?

Answer from Robert Jenrick

The policy that we have adopted is one of maximising the capacity of the hotels that we have for as long as we have them. That is saving the taxpayer at least a quarter of a billion pounds and reducing reliance on hotels elsewhere in the country.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The inconsistency mentioned by the MP was not directly addressed.

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Q3 Jeff Smith Lab Manchester Withington
Asylum & Refugees
Context

The Home Office has yet to explain how it plans to find unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who go missing.

Question

Will the Home Office set out its plans to find these vulnerable people?

Answer from Robert Jenrick

We have been very clear that we and the police take extremely seriously any young person who goes missing from a hotel or any other form of accommodation. Local police forces and Home Office personnel treat that exactly as they would any other child going missing and they conduct a full missing person inquiry.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The plan to find the children was not specified beyond conducting inquiries.

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Q4 James Gray Con
Asylum & Refugees
Context

There are concerns regarding the poor living conditions of asylum seekers at a Wiltshire hotel.

Question

Will the Minister give particular attention to the Wiltshire hotel?

Answer from Robert Jenrick

I am familiar with the hotel in my hon. Friend's constituency and the concerns he has raised. I will take a look at that, but as I have said previously, the answer to this challenge is to stop the boats coming in the first place.

Not addressed: The specific issue of Wiltshire hotel was not addressed.

How: Stop The Boats

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Q5 Richard Fuller Con North Bedfordshire
Asylum & Refugees
Context

The community of Sharnbrook is providing a welcoming environment for asylum seekers.

Question

Will the Minister spend a moment to congratulate the community of Sharnbrook?

Answer from Robert Jenrick

I would be very happy to put on record my view of the good work being done by my hon. Friend's constituents. He is right to say that there are voluntary and community groups, charities and churches right across the country that support asylum seekers while they are in this form of accommodation, and we and our providers facilitate that wherever possible.

Answered
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