Government secretive over Manchester asylum seeker plans - MP

Graham Stringer says Manchester has taken "a disproportionate number" of asylum seekers

An MP says Manchester has taken "a disproportionate number" of migrants and the government is being "secretive" over where they are being housed.

Graham Stringer negotiated a moratorium on asylum seeker accommodation in some city postcodes during the last Labour government.

The ban on new asylum seeker housing still stands in some parts of the city.

But Serco, who house refugees on behalf of the government, want to lift the moratorium, according to the council.

Mr Stringer, the Labour MP for Broughton and Blackley, said: "It's very disturbing that the Home Office is being so secretive about this.

"The fact is that Manchester has taken a disproportionate number of people seeking refugee status and there's a housing crisis in Manchester.

"My inbox at the moment is jammed full of people in desperate situations - either without housing or in housing that's not fit for human habitation."

The moratorium on new asylum seeker accommodation in the M8, M9 and M40 postcodes has been in place for more than a decade, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Mr Stringer said asylum seekers were being housed in his constituency in unprecedented numbers and described his government's policy as "disastrous" at the time.

The Labour MP believes the policy should still be in place. However, in May, a Manchester council report revealed Serco would like to procure asylum seeker accommodation in the current moratorium area in his constituency.

The local authority said a formal conversation between the minister and the MP would need to take place before the ban could be lifted.

The LDRS said the council was concerned that allowing Serco to buy accommodation to house asylum seekers in north Manchester would push prices up as people struggle to pay rent.

It could also affect the local authority's efforts to house the 15,000 people and their families currently waiting for social housing in the city.

A Home Office spokesman said: "The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide accommodation for asylum seekers while we consider their claim for international protection.

"We are committed to making every effort to reduce hotel use and continue to work with local authorities to fairly disperse asylum seekers across the UK."

Serco declined to comment.