Reform leader considering 'all options' on asylum seeker hotels in West Northamptonshire after legal ruling
All options about the future of hotels housing asylum seekers in West Northamptonshire are being considered, the leader of the council said.
Councillor Mark Arnull issued a statement after Epping Forest District Council was granted a temporary High Court injunction to stop asylum seekers being place at The Bell Hotel in Epping.
There are three hotels housing asylum seekers in West Northamptonshire – Ibis in Crick, Holiday Inn, Flore, and MK Hotel, Deanshanger.
In a statement issued to the Chronicle & Echo, Councillor Arnull said: “We have always been clear with the Government and the public that the current use of three hotels in West Northamptonshire have never been suitable locations for asylum accommodation and place an unreasonable and unsustainable strain on our already-stretched local services.
“We also know these hotels cause concerns for our communities and I have raised these issues with the Home Office and written to the Deputy Prime Minister about the wider use of asylum accommodation within our community.
“We are currently considering the implications of this judgment to understand any similarities and differences and are actively looking at the options now available to us. As such I am unable to comment further at this stage but will issue a further update when able to do so. In the meantime, we will continue to work with partners in the police and in our communities to make sure that residents’ concerns are heard and addressed.”
Earlier this week, Northamptonshire’s Reform UK council leaders called on the Home Office for ‘genuine consultation’ on any future plans to house asylum seekers in their areas, after claims that residents feel “blindsided” by the accommodation being used.
It came after government ministers announced they would be investing £500 million to create a new, more sustainable accommodation model to work towards ending the use of asylum hotels entirely.
Concerns have been raised in recent weeks by communities in West Northamptonshire about the use of hotels for asylum seekers.
Crick Parish Council issued a statement earlier this month saying it was ‘extremely concerned about recent incidents’ involving the IBIS hotel at Crick, which is currently housing asylum seekers as part of a Labour-Government-led scheme. The statement did not specify details of any particular incident.
The leader of the Labour Party in West Northamptonshire has previously criticised Reform for making a “divisive” statement about migrant hotel schemes in the county.
Councillor Sally Keeble said: “The Labour Government has committed to end the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers by the end of this Parliament. They are inappropriate and a disproportionate burden on the public purse. Already the Labour Government has almost halved the number of asylum hotels, down from 400 to just over 200.
“The Reform administration in West Northamptonshire has been in place for only three months. It’s beholden on them to ensure that the transition from hotels to alternative, more sustainable accommodation is achieved with the good order and constructive relationships which are characteristic of our community in West Northamptonshire."