Legal fight to end use of hotels for migrants
ANGER is growing around the Westcountry at the imposition by the Home Office of scores of migrants now being housed in seaside hotels – with at least one council considering legal action to stop the practice.
Asylum seekers arrived this week at a fourth hotel in the region to be turned into a holding centre for those seeking asylum. Following the takeover of hotels in Paignton, Ilfracombe and Newquay, migrants began arriving at a prominent hotel in Torquay on Monday.
Torbay Council said it sympathised with the need to accommodate the migrants – but it would put intolerable pressure on services, particularly services for young people, which are already under severe strain.
It is seriously considering attempting to gain an injunction to stop the use of hotels to house migrants.
Torbay Conservative MP Kevin Foster said: “It is deeply frustrating to see another hotel in our key tourist areas taken out of use for tourism and converted into longer-term accommodation, with no notice at all to either Torbay Council or me as the MP until we discovered the use via another route.
“I have already written to the Immigration Minister demanding an explanation as to why this has occurred and a meeting to understand why previous assurances were not honoured, and what is the Home Secretary’s practical plan to put an end to hotel usage.”
It is believed the new arrivals crossed the Channel from France in small boats and have been moved from the holding centre in Manston, Kent.
ANGRY officials at Torbay Council are preparing legal action after the Home Office took over a second bay hotel for asylum seekers.
With the Esplanade Hotel on Paignton seafront having been in use to house around 100 refugees since September, a prominent hotel near Torquay seafront has now been commandeered.
Torbay Council was not notified before the first group of refugees arrived at the Torquay hotel on Monday, and neither was Torbay MP Kevin Foster.
Now the council is considering taking out an injunction in an effort to stop any more hotels being used. Mr Foster has said that the situation is “deeply frustrating”.
The council’s main objection is the pressure the unexpected new arrivals could put on its already-stretched services. The local authority is prepared to take its “fair share” of refugees being moved to locations around the country from the overcrowded processing centres in Kent, where thousands of people are waiting to have their applications for asylum processed, but, it says, the extra pressure heaped on its social services will cause major issues.
Anne-Marie Bond, chief executive of Torbay Council, said: “We asked for assurance from the Home Office that there would be no further hotels in Torbay, but despite that request, we learnt on Monday that a further hotel has been stepped up by the Home Office. This was without any prior notification to us.
“We have today asked, through our solicitors, urgent questions of the Home Office and we stand ready to issue urgent injunction proceedings upon a response from them.
“The social and economic impacts of these hotels are significant and the pressure that is being put upon our services, especially our Children’s Services department, is profound.
“With the first hotel alone, we are managing a significant number of residents who are claiming to be under the age of 18 and this is limiting our ability to undertake statutory services for children and young people.”
It is believed as many as 20 of the 100 refugees staying at the Esplanade Hotel have registered as being under the age of 18, meaning that Torbay Council’s Children’s Services department has to become involved.
Children’s Services already makes up a large proportion of the council’s spending, and officers fear the extra burden of asylum seekers registering as children will mean it cannot keep up with demand.
Statutory tests to find out a person’s true age can cost up to £25,000 per person, and take five people to complete.
The council must also provide qualified social workers and other staff to carry out the age checks. There are fears the checks could cost the council up to £1.5 million over the next year, with the Government contributing less than a tenth of that. Now one leading councillor is calling on the Government to do more to help. Cllr Cordelia Law, the council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “We need a more humane system that doesn’t treat people like animals or criminals, and this is having a huge impact on our services.
“We are not the only place going through this, but because of our small size it has a disproportionate impact on our social care.”
The latest group of refugees arrived at the hotel close to Torquay seafront on Monday, having been brought to South Devon by the Home Office.