MP claims hotel residents were kicked out to make way for asylum seekers
‘THEY’VE MADE PEOPLE HOMELESS IN MANSFIELD’
FRUSTRATED MP and county council leader Ben Bradley says residents were removed from a hotel so asylum seekers could be housed there.
Mr Bradley, Mansfield MP and leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, says the Mansfield hotel was not the “right place” for asylum seekers and that a different system was needed from the Home Office.
Mansfield District Council received a request from the Home Office on November 13 to use the hotel, which cannot be named for legal reasons, as a temporary base, whilst the asylum seekers’ claims are processed.
But Mr Bradley claims that the asylum seekers have been in the building since November 12.
He claimed people who were using the hotel as temporary accommodation had now presented to the council as homeless.
“It’s incredibly frustrating,” the MP told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
“In doing so, they have turfed out residents who were already in there for temporary accommodation and who have presented themselves as homeless. “It’s not on, to be honest. “There’s a bigger picture here, which is tackling the issue and stopping people from coming.
“But when it comes to communication, they’ve picked an area of town that’s not the right area and is not the right provision.”
He continued: “They’ve not told us about it, they’ve not told us what services we need to put around it, and they’ve made people homeless in Mansfield as a result.
“It’s not being very well-managed by Serco, the company in charge of it.”
The hotel in Mansfield is one of many being used by contractors Serco and the Home Office amid increasing pressure on the asylum system across the UK.
Another hotel near Long Eaton is being used for the same purposes.
Serco says it doesn’t comment on specific sites but told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it “did not remove existing residents from the hotel”.
It said that people were removed from hotels “for the safety and wellbeing” of people in its care after recent activities from some far-right groups.
Jenni Halliday, Serco’s contract director for asylum accommodation services, said: “With the significant increases in the number of people arriving in the UK, we have been faced with no alternative but to temporarily accommodate some asylum seekers in hotels.
“These hotels are only used as a last resort.
“But, as a provider of accommodation services on behalf of the Home Office, we have a responsibility to find accommodation for the asylum seekers that are being placed in our care. The Serco team is working extremely hard to move people into dispersed social housing as rapidly as possible.” Mansfield District Council confirmed it has liaised with Serco and the Home Office to support asylum seekers. A spokesperson said: “As part of our statutory duty, we will work as a part of a multiagency response to ensure those dispersed from their home countries are supported at this time and fulfil our duty to help those who are successful in being resettled in the UK.
“We will continue to ensure that services are made available to all vulnerable members of our community when they are needed.” The authority confirmed that support was on offer for the previous occupants, who Mr Bradley claims have been made homeless. The Home Office has been approached for a comment on the cost to the taxpayer of using the Mansfield hotel. This comes as record numbers of asylum seekers and migrants cross the English Channel on boats from France. Earlier this month, Home Secretary Suella Braverman confirmed that more than 40,000 people had made the journey so far this year. She said it is putting “unprecedented pressure” on the asylum system and was costing the Home Office millions a day to house migrants in hotels.
It’s incredibly frustrating. It’s not on, to be honest. It’s not being very well managed by Serco Ben Bradley