Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an economic impact assessment of housing asylum seekers at local hotels on (a) the local economy and (b) business activity on local high streets where those hotels are located.

The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide accommodation and other support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered.

The significant increase in illegal, unnecessary and dangerous journeys across the Channel is placing unprecedented strain on our asylum system and it has made it necessary to continue to use hotels to accommodate some asylum seekers. The use of hotels is a short-term solution, and we are working hard with local authorities to find appropriate accommodation.