Asylum seekers' Stevenage hotel stay notice 'unacceptable'

Stevenage Borough Council said it was given 24 hours' notice that up to 178 asylum seekers would be placed in a hotel

The Home Office's "chaotic and cavalier approach" to placing asylum seekers in hotels was "unacceptable", a council leader said.

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage said the Labour-run borough council was given 24 hours notice that up to 178 asylum seekers would be placed in the town.

She said the hotel chosen was "unsuitable" and there were already 183 asylum seekers at another hotel.

The Home Office said the use of hotels was a "temporary solution".

Baroness Taylor said the council had previously "persuaded" the Home Office the town centre hotel "wasn't the right place for them" on three occasions, and there had been "a commitment" that it would not be used.

She said the council was told on Saturday that up to 178 people would be placed in the hotel and the asylum seekers arrived within 24 hours.

"My concerns are particularly on humanitarian grounds - these are vulnerable individuals who have had a pretty awful time and then placed somewhere they don't know without proper facilities," Baroness Taylor said.

"But also this chaotic and cavalier approach by the Home Office and its agents - it's unacceptable.

"My concern is we've worked very hard here to support refugees and asylum seekers in the past, we work really hard on community cohesion and I'm really concerned this cavalier approach is going to disrupt that massively."

'Community safety'

The Labour peer said there were "issues in relation to community safety" in the area and that the Hertfordshire town needed its hotel space to keep its economy going during a "very busy time".

She also said she was worried about the pressure on health services due to asylum seekers needing health screenings on arrival.

"This is very short notice and that makes it impossible to look after them properly," said Baroness Taylor.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said the asylum system was "under incredible strain" due to "record levels" of people arriving in the UK.

"The use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable - there are currently more than 37,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £5.6m a day," they said.

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