Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of (a) the appropriateness of using hotels to accommodate asylum seekers in areas that experienced violent disorder during summer 2024, and (b) the potential impact on (i) community cohesion, (ii) public safety and (iii) local policing resources.

This Government is clear that asylum hotels are not a sustainable solution and represent poor value for money. We are committed to ending their use and closing all such sites by the end of this Parliament.

The safety and welfare of asylum seekers and local communities is a priority. All asylum accommodation is carefully managed, supported by dedicated security arrangements and strong engagement with local policing and safeguarding partners. These partnerships help to mitigate risks and ensure proportionate action is taken to protect residents, staff, and local communities.

Decisions on the use and closure of individual sites are informed by factors including operational feasibility, cost, community cohesion, and engagement with local authorities and statutory partners. As closures progress, sites will be prioritised on this basis and in line with the Government’s objective of reducing the number of people requiring asylum accommodation.

For safety, security and wellbeing reasons, we do not comment publicly on individual hotels that may or may not be used for asylum accommodation, nor do we publish a closure schedule.