Asylum hotel to be exited
News release issued:
The government is stopping using a Kidderminster hotel to house asylum seekers.
The Home Office announced on Tuesday 24 October the first 50 hotels across the UK will stop housing asylum seekers.
In a letter to Wyre Forest District Council the Home Office notified the authority that it is terminating its contract with OYO Gainsborough Hotel, Kidderminster. By the end of February 2024 the Home Office will not use the hotel to accommodate asylum seekers. The current residents will be given notice and moved to other parts of the Government’s asylum estate.
This step follows the statement in the House of Commons by Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP, the Minister for Immigration.
Responding to the Home Office’s notification, Councillor Marcus Hart, Leader of the Council said:
“We welcome the Home Office’s decision to cease to use this hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers. We look forward to working with the Home Office and Serco, its contractors, to make sure that there is no impact on the Council as a result of the process of moving asylum seekers from the hotel to other accommodation that the Government uses for asylum seekers. I am pleased that the hotel will be able to be used for its proposed future use.”
“This district has a history of welcoming people of all nationalities, and we understand the need for asylum seekers to be appropriately housed while their claims are assessed. We look forward to the Home Office continuing to reduce its reliance on hotels for that purpose and that it will also be able to release more hotels, including another in Bewdley, in due course.”
A planning application has been submitted to the council to convert the Gainsborough House Hotel into 27 self-contained flats. This is currently pending consideration.