Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review her Department’s use of hotel accommodation to help improve the suitability of accommodation offered to asylum seekers.
The United Kingdom has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and other support whilst their application for asylum is being considered as set out in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
The enduring solution is to stop the illegal, dangerous, and unnecessary small boat crossings that are overwhelming our asylum system. The Home Office is working tirelessly, alongside other government departments, to reduce the Government’s dependency on hotels for contingency accommodation through a package of long-term and short-term measures.
The Asylum Accommodation service providers identify suitable accommodation and ensure that it conforms to the accommodation standards and provision set out in Schedule 2 of the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC). The Statement of Requirements, available via the link below, sets out the full details of our contractual obligations: