Council to challenge government plan to house more asylum seekers at Wakefield hotel

The local authority confirmed today that it has been informed by the Home Office that arrangements are being made to accommodate more newly-arrived asylum seekers to the city.

Council leader Denise Jeffery said she has instructed officers to explore ‘all available options’ to stop the move.

A number of the district’s hotel are already being used to accommodate asylum seekers.

Coun Jeffery said public services in the Labour-run district are under strain as a result of the policy.

She said: “We have a long history of supporting those seeking a safe haven and we can be proud of how compassionate our district is.

“We’re supporting the refugee schemes, and that’s allowing us to provide the right services to help people and welcome them into our communities.

“What isn’t compassionate or sustainable is placing asylum seekers, who often have very complex needs, into the heart of our communities with no support.

“Our hotels, communities and over-stretched public services are already under intense pressure accommodating people placed here by the government.

“But they only seem intent on ignoring their responsibilities to come up with proper solutions to sort this problem out.

“All the while the council has to also be mindful that we have a statutory duty to support homeless people in our district.

“Sadly, we have more and more people finding themselves homeless, and are more reliant than ever on using hotels as the housing market cannot meet local demand.”

It was reported yesterday (March 20) that almost 395 UK hotels are currently being used to house more than 51,000 asylum seekers, at a cost of more than £6m a day.

Of those hotels, 363 are understood to be in England, 20 in Northern Ireland, 10 in Scotland and two in Wales.

Due to a lack of other suitable accommodation, asylum seekers are housed in hotels, which are often taken over by the government with only a few days’ notice.

Coun Jeffery added: “We simply cannot sustain any more pressure.

“We urge the Home Office to reconsider these latest plans and try to strike a better balance between different parts of the country.

“If they insist on moving forward, we will do everything in our power to prevent this poorly planned, unsustainable move.”

Wakefield Labour MP Simon Lightwood said: “As a district of sanctuary, our city has a proud history of embracing those fleeing war and persecution, but hotels are completely unsuitable long-term accommodation for these very vulnerable individuals who require intensive support from a wide range of local agencies.

“But we have no say. This is a proposal forced on Wakefield by the government – putting even more strain on Wakefield Council, who have already faced £300million of funding cut from their budgets since 2010.

“I’ll be writing to the home secretary to protest these proposals.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain.

“The use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable – there are currently more than 51,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £6 million a day.

“The use of hotels is a temporary solution, and we are working hard with local authorities to find appropriate accommodation.”