Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Euan Stainbank

Monday 9th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Euan Stainbank (Falkirk) (Lab)]

3. What steps her Department is taking to close asylum hotels.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Shabana Mahmood)]

Asylum hotels were a legacy of the last Conservative Government—at their peak, there were 400 open across the country, as asylum case working had ground to a halt. We have already restarted decision making, increased returns and opened new military sites. We are now closing asylum hotels, and by the end of this Parliament, we will have shut every single one.

[Euan Stainbank]

The Tories’ asylum hotels have divided communities and endangered vulnerable people in communities such as Falkirk, but we must be honest: the Inverness barracks proposal is controversial, and will aggravate community tensions in Scotland rather than cool them if there is no corresponding urgent move to close asylum hotels in Scotland. Will the Secretary of State join me this month in visiting Kemper Avenue to see at first hand why the Cladhan must now be fairly prioritised for closure in the hotel exit plan?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Euan Stainbank

Monday 17th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

We should already recognise that the action on law enforcement, particularly the co-operation with our colleagues in France and Germany, has led to the confiscation of kit that was being used by organised immigration crime gangs, and has led to 20,000 illegal crossings not taking place. Later today, we will set out a full suite of measures designed to decrease the number of arrivals from across the channel. Unlike many in the hon. Gentleman’s party, I take my responsibilities very seriously and I am happy to be held to account by the British public.

[Euan Stainbank (Falkirk) (Lab)]

The Government have already acted to fix the unworkable mess in which the Tories left the asylum system. An increase of 116% in processing in one year is bringing down the backlog, securing refugee status for those fleeing persecution and removing those with no right to be here, but communities such as those in Falkirk must see the benefit of the difference in approach. What steps will the Home Secretary take to guarantee Tory-created asylum hotels will be closed equitably across the nations of the United Kingdom?

[Shabana Mahmood]

We are working with Ministers across Government on closing every hotel as soon as possible, and by the end of this Parliament. As we have all seen, that is a complex process that must be delivered through a controlled, managed and orderly programme of work. We do not want to be in a situation where, without an alternative ready, we start exiting hotels before it is time to do so. I assure my hon. Friend that we will take a balanced and evidence-based approach towards making decisions about the locations that we will use and how we will exit hotels. I look forward to talking to him in more detail about these plans in due course.