Plans to use Burton hotel to house asylum seekers scrapped
Plans to house asylum seekers in another Burton hotel have been scrapped by the Government, the town’s MP has revealed. Foreign nationals seeking asylum in the UK have been housed in two Burton hotels – and it recently emerged Whitehall chiefs had approved plans to use a third in the town.
However, following a meeting with top immigration minister Robert Jenrick, Burton’s Tory MP, Kate Kniveton, has revealed the Home Office has reversed its decision.
Ms Kniveton had been promised a meeting with Mr Jenrick by prime minister Rishi Sunak after she raised the issue in Parliament last month.
Addressing Mr Sunak, she said: “I welcome the steps the Prime Minister is taking to stop illegal, dangerous and unnecessary small boast crossings, which are overwhelming our asylum system, but I have to raise significant concerns about a recent decision to stand up a third hotel in Burton, as well as increase capacity at another hotel by 64 per cent.
“That will have a serious knock-on effect on our response to homelessness and rough sleeping, as well as causing challenges for wider public services in east Staffordshire. What further support can the Prime Minister provide local authorities in east Staffordshire to deal with these urgent concerns?”
Mr Sunak responded: “That is why we need to stop the boats so that we can relieve the unsustainable pressure on our asylum system and accommodation, which is costing British taxpayers over £3 billion a year.
“Our new Bill will ensure that anyone arriving illegally will be detained and swiftly removed, but in the meantime we will take action to address the unacceptable cost of housing migrants in hotels. We recognise the pressure this places on local areas.
“That is why the Government are providing further dispersal financial support, but I will ensure that my hon. Friend gets a meeting with the immigration minister to discuss her specific local concerns.”
During her meeting with Mr Jenrick, Ms Kniveton is understood to have urged him to intervene and review the decision. She is said to have raised concerns about the effect it would have on rooms available for rough sleepers, as well as wider public services and tourism.
Kate Kniveton with Robert Jenrick. (Image: Office of Kate Kniveton MP)
The Home Office and Ms Kniveton’s office have not revealed which hotel was identified as the third site – or confirmed the identities of the other two she referred to in Parliament.
It comes more than 18 months after, in November 2021, plans were launched to house asylum seekers in the Newton Park Hotel, in Newton Solney, for three months. In January this year, the same venue was set to be used to house more than 100 people fleeing the Ukraine war.
And in August 2021, the Home Office had ordered the IBIS hotel, in Derby Street, Burton, to be used to help around 60 facilitate asylum seekers.
Ms Kniveton said: “I am grateful to Robert Jenrick for intervening on this Home Office decision following my recent meeting with him and after I raised this issue with the prime minister in Parliament.
“The standing down of this hotel in Burton is a good step forward and I urged the minister to do more to ultimately ensure that his department ends the use of hotels in Burton.
“The Government has committed to end the use of hotels to house individuals waiting for the outcome of their application for asylum. In order to do this, we must stop the boats and the illegal channel crossings which are overwhelming our asylum system.
“The prime minister has my full support in doing this and I know it is a priority that residents in Burton and Uttoxeter also take very seriously and want to see action on.”
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References
- ^ Suspect who grabbed woman as she walked on Burton bridge fled on bike (www.staffordshire-live.co.uk)
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