Council to hire lawyer to stop asylum seeker hotel

Flags and protest signs have been put up near Stanwell Hotel in Surrey

A council is to hire a lawyer to explore "all avenues" to stop asylum seekers from being housed in a hotel, it has announced.

Spelthorne Borough Council (SBC) agreed to pursue the action after the Home Office paused plans to have exclusively male asylum seekers at Stanwell Hotel in Stanwell, Surrey, and relocate asylum families.

Council leader Joanne Sexton told a meeting on Thursday that the authority and residents "continue to have serious and deeply valid concerns about the proposed changes".

The Home Office said the government was working to reduce the use of hotels as part of a "complete overhaul" of the asylum system.

A motion, which was agreed by almost all councillors, said an experienced KC should be employed to represent SBC in "taking all and any available action and exploring all avenues with regards to Stanwell Hotel, and stopping its use as an asylum seekers centre".

It was proposed by Ms Sexton, from the Independent Spelthorne Group, as an amendment to a Conservative motion.

The council said the action was in light of the Court of Appeal's decision to overturn a temporary injunction which would have prevented asylum seekers from being housed at The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex.

Epping Forest District Council has confirmed its plans to appeal directly to the Supreme Court.

Ms Sexton told the meeting: "We will continue to explore every possible avenue to ensure the Home Office understands what we all know to be true – that Stanwell village is simply not a suitable location for single male asylum seekers to reside in."

'Court of public opinion'

Labour councillor for Ashford North and Stanwell South, Med Buck, said: "The residents of Stanwell, and indeed across Spelthorne, have spoken. They are worried about the community safety."

Meanwhile, Conservative councillor for Laleham and Shepperton Green, Darren Clarke, told the meeting: "What the nation is doing at the moment is entering the court of public opinion and saying, 'up with it, we will not put, we are not happy'.'"

Liberal Democrat Lawrence Nichols, who represents Halliford and Sunbury West, added that he wanted to see the hotel closed to asylum seekers.

"I don't believe, when I see a boatload of people two miles off Dover, that it's an invasion. I see there a load of desperate people and I want us as a country to help them," he said.

Councillors also voted to lobby the Home Office to cease relying on hotels as accommodation for asylum seekers.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "From over 400 asylum hotels open in summer 2023, costing almost £9m a day, there are now less than 210, and we want them all closed by the end of this parliament.

"We will continue to work closely with community partners across the country and discuss any concerns they have, as we look to fix this broken system together.

"The security of the local communities within which hotels are located will always be our paramount concern."