Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether any individual is responsible for carrying out a full risk assessment when implementing sharing of hotel rooms for asylum seekers to ensure vulnerable residents are safeguarded; and if so, who.

Our asylum accommodation service providers are responsible for ensuring that all accommodation complies with the standards and provisions set out in Schedule 2 of the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC) .

The sharing of rooms in Initial Accommodation (IA) is not new and we work with local authorities and their partners to minimise the impact on health and local services of any increases to occupancy within individual sites. All representation will be considered by the Home Office prior to any new asylum seekers being routed to additionally available beds.

When implementing room sharing, our providers will discuss the move with each individual and will encourage them to raise any safeguarding, medical or other issues which would mean room sharing is not appropriate. All personal circumstances will be considered before deciding if room sharing is suitable.