Number of asylum hotels will be down by end of March, says minister

The number of hotels used to house asylum seekers will be lower by the end of March, a Home Office minister told the Commons.

Nine hotels are scheduled to close in March as part of the the Government’s commitment to reducing hotel use, Dame Angela Eagle said.

During Home Office questions, she told MPs: “The Government is committed to reducing hotel use through reform of the asylum system, including streamlining asylum processing and establishing the Border Security Command to tackle people-smuggling gangs at source.

“Since the general election there’s been a net increase of six hotels in use; however nine are scheduled for closure by the end of March.”

Conservative MP Sir Ashley Fox pressed the minister on when the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels will be lower than it was prior to the general election.

The MP for Bridgwater said: “The Government’s new policy of smashing the gangs has enabled them to close seven asylum hotels, but unfortunately they’ve had to open another 14. Could the minister tell us when the number of asylum seekers in hotel accommodation will be lower than when she took office?”

Dame Angela said the issue “can’t be solved overnight” because of the “size of the backlog we inherited from the party opposite”.

She added: “We are working very, very hard to close hotels.

“I just gave (Sir Ashley) the figures, it will be down. Nine more scheduled to close by the end of March, and there’s been a net increase of six, so by the end of March there will be fewer.”

Elsewhere in Home Office questions, Dame Angela said the Government’s decision to pause Syrian asylum claims was being kept under “very close observation”.

This came in response to Liberal Democrat home affairs spokeswoman Lisa Smart, who said a constituent of hers and her three children, who were all from Syria, had been “living in limbo for nine months” in an asylum hotel while they waited for a decision on their asylum claims.

She added: “The cost of housing families in this way is too high, both to the mental well-being of those living there, and to the taxpayer.

“So will the minister let the House know what circumstances she is waiting for, for asylum applications from Syria to be resumed, and when she expects that to be?”

Dame Angela replied: “Until the future in Syria becomes a little more settled, it’s very difficult to try to decide those claims, which is why both this country and most of Europe have had a temporary pause while the situation in Syria settles and develops.

“So I can’t stand here and tell her exactly when, all I can say is we’re keeping it under very close observation and as soon as there is any development in this area we will make sure that the House knows.”