Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average daily spend on hotel accommodation for asylum seekers was in September 2022; and what the average daily number of asylum seekers accommodated in those hotels was in September 2022.

The significant increase in 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.

There are currently more than 37,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £5.6 million a day. Occupancy levels vary and the number of people flowing through contingency hotel accommodation in any one month is not recorded.

Statistics relating to supported asylum seekers temporarily residing in contingency accommodation are published as Immigration Statistics under the S98 population tables. The latest publication (March 2022) can be found here Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab), under the document Asylum seekers in receipt of support (second edition)(opens in a new tab).

The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates the number of asylum seekers accommodated in specific types of accommodation. These figures are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.