Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to cease using the Copthorne Hotel in East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency to accommodate asylum seekers by the end of 2026.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
Exiting all asylum hotels as soon as possible is one of the Government’s top priorities and must be executed through a controlled, managed and orderly plan of work. This plan involves reducing inflow, speeding up caseworking, maximising utilisation of our estate, continuing to increase returns and exploring the use of large sites as suitable alternative accommodation.
Hotel closures will be prioritised based on a wide range of criteria which include but are not limited to cohort-based planning, operational desirability, costs, utilisation, geographical factors and mitigating provider-related risks. The hotel exit programme will be carefully managed to ensure that all supported asylum seekers are provided with suitable alternative accommodation, including large sites, elsewhere in the estate.
For safety, security, and operational reasons, the department does not comment on individual hotels or the timing of closures. Instead, scheduled closures are carefully managed and communicated directly to local authority Chief Executives and MPs when decisions are made.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Copthorne Hotel in East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency will be included in the next round of asylum hotel closures.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
Exiting all asylum hotels as soon as possible is one of the Government’s top priorities and must be executed through a controlled, managed and orderly plan of work. This plan involves reducing inflow, speeding up caseworking, maximising utilisation of our estate, continuing to increase returns and exploring the use of large sites as suitable alternative accommodation.
Hotel closures will be prioritised based on a wide range of criteria which include but are not limited to cohort-based planning, operational desirability, costs, utilisation, geographical factors and mitigating provider-related risks. The hotel exit programme will be carefully managed to ensure that all supported asylum seekers are provided with suitable alternative accommodation, including large sites, elsewhere in the estate.
For safety, security, and operational reasons, the department does not comment on individual hotels or the timing of closures. Instead, scheduled closures are carefully managed and communicated directly to local authority Chief Executives and MPs when decisions are made.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her Department uses to determine which hotels accommodating asylum seekers will be closed and (ii) the order in which those hotels will be closed.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
Exiting all asylum hotels as soon as possible is one of the Government’s top priorities and must be executed through a controlled, managed and orderly plan of work. This plan involves reducing inflow, speeding up caseworking, maximising utilisation of our estate, continuing to increase returns and exploring the use of large sites as suitable alternative accommodation.
Hotel closures will be prioritised based on a wide range of criteria which include but are not limited to cohort-based planning, operational desirability, costs, utilisation, geographical factors and mitigating provider-related risks. The hotel exit programme will be carefully managed to ensure that all supported asylum seekers are provided with suitable alternative accommodation, including large sites, elsewhere in the estate.
For safety, security, and operational reasons, the department does not comment on individual hotels or the timing of closures. Instead, scheduled closures are carefully managed and communicated directly to local authority Chief Executives and MPs when decisions are made.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers are currently accommodated at the Copthorne Hotel in East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
For the safety and security of those we accommodate, staff and local communities, it is our longstanding policy not to disclose information about sites which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office.
Data on the number of asylum seekers receiving support and accommodation, which can also be split into each Local Authority area, is published quarterly in the Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.
The latest published figures show that, as of 30 June 2026, the following numbers of individuals were receiving asylum support in Mid Sussex:
- 321 people in contingency hotel accommodation
- 4 people in dispersal accommodation
- 1 person receiving subsistence only support
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average monthly cost was of accommodating asylum seekers at the Copthorne Hotel in East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency in the last 12 months.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
For the safety and security of those we accommodate, staff and local communities, it is our longstanding policy not to disclose information about sites which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office.
We do not report and hold data at this granularity and would only be obtainable at disproportionate cost. The Home Office publishes information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2025 to 2026 – GOV.UK (opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she will make an assessment of the potential impact of electrifying the Uckfield Line on the level of economic growth in Sussex.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
A Strategic Outline Business Case was completed by Network Rail in 2021 which considered the positive impact electrifying the Uckfield line would have on train performance and reliability. The scheme was paused by the previous Government in 2022; no further assessments have taken place, and the scheme is not currently funded.
We will continue to work with industry partners to identify affordable and deliverable opportunities to improve rail services across the South East.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many MP surgeries have Ministers in her Department had with MPs (a) in the period July 2024 to January 2025 and (b) since January 2025.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ministers for Food Security and Rural Affairs held no MP surgeries between July 2024 and January 2025, and three since January 2025: on 10 February 2026, 10 March 2026 and 13 July 2026. There has been engagement with Members since July 2024 but usually on a one-to-one basis.
The Minister for Water and Flooding held 32 MP surgeries between July 2024 and January 2025, and 107 since January 2025.
The Minister for Nature has not held any MP surgeries in the period July 2024 to January 2025 or since January 2025. She has had individual meetings with Members.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how many MP surgeries have Ministers in his Department had with MPs (a) in the period July 2024 to January 2025 and (b) since January 2025.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Ministers meet regularly with Members of Parliament to discuss a wide range of issues relating to their departmental responsibilities and matters of interest to constituents. Information on individual meetings is not held centrally.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many MP surgeries Ministers in her Department have had with MPs (a) in the period July 2024 to January 2025 and (b) since January 2025.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Ministers of the department held 28 MP surgeries in the period July 2024 to January 2025, and 229 MP surgeries since January 2025.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many MP surgeries have Ministers in her Department had with MPs (a) in the period July 2024 to January 2025 and (b) since January 2025.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Minister Jess Philips:
a.) 1, b.) 5
Minister Dame Diana Johnson:
a.) 1, b.) 2
Minister Seema Malhotra:
a.) 1, b.) 3
Minister Mike Tapp:
a.) n/a, b.) 8
Minister Dan Jarvis:
a.) 0, b.) 1
Minister Dame Angela Eagle:
a.) 2, b.) 4
Minister Natalie Fleet:
a.) n/a, b.) 0
Minister Alex Norris:
a.) n/a, b.) 17
Minister Sarah Jones:
None, instead regular engagement in a variety of ways.
Minister Lord David Hanson:
None, as he is not an MP.