Protests at asylum seeker hotel 'not helpful'

Newcastle City Council leader Karen Kilgour has called for local authorities to be given more powers over where asylum seekers are housed

A council leader has said she is "incredibly sad" over weekly protests at a city hotel housing asylum seekers, as a deal for its closure is yet to be agreed.

Newcastle City Council has said repeatedly it is in talks with the Home Office over shutting the hotel, which has been the subject of regular demonstations.

Council leader Karen Kilgour has previously called for local authorities to be handed more powers over where asylum seekers are placed, as part of a new system aimed at better protecting existing communities and integrating new arrivals.

A Home Office spokesperson said the government would close "every single asylum hotel".

Kilgour said: "Those staying in a hotel in Newcastle have faced weekly protests and I find this incredibly sad.

"Although I understand there needs to be legitimate debate on immigration I do not think this approach is helpful."

She added said asylum seekers were "vulnerable and have often faced unimaginable horror", and that it was a "myth" they were living in "five-star accommodation".

Kilgour confirmed on Tuesday talks with the government were ongoing, but cautioned that a deal to close the hotel "won't happen overnight and nothing has yet been agreed", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

'Excessive cost to taxpayer'

While the government promised to stop the use of asylum seekers hotels by 2029, this week a committee of MPs warned that ministers had not provided a clear strategy for how it would replace the "current failed, chaotic and expensive" system.

The Home Affairs Committee found that the Home Office had "squandered" taxpayer money, with the expected costs of accommodation contracts for 2019 to 2029 having spiralled from £4.5bn to £15.3bn.

Kilgour added: "I have made my position very clear on this matter and share the government's ambition to end the use of hotel contracts for asylum seeker accommodation.

"Not only because of the excessive cost to the taxpayer, but because it is simply not an appropriate way to house asylum seekers in the long term."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The government is furious about the number of illegal migrants in this country and in hotels.

"That is why we will close every single asylum hotel – saving the taxpayer billions of pounds."

They added the government was exploring the use of "military bases and disused properties" to house asylum seekers.