By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
New plans to move asylum seekers out of hotels and into holiday camps and empty student accommodation have been welcomed by a Nottinghamshire MP.
Councillor Ben Bradley (Con), MP for Mansfield and leader of the county council, says the changes are a “much more appropriate” way of safely accommodating the migrants.
A hotel in his constituency continues to be used to temporarily house 34 asylum seekers.
The Home Office and its contractor Serco had come under fire for the move but now Cllr Bradley is optimistic things could soon change.
The new plans were revealed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the Commons this week in a move to change the current hotel arrangements.
He told MPs it was “unfair and appalling” that the Government is paying £5.6m per day using hotels across the country and said: “We must end this.”
Now Cllr Bradley says the changes are positive after heavily criticising the Home Office and Serco for using his town’s hotel.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “This is good and is something I had suggested.
“Looking at sites where they are secure and away from residential communities is better.
“My frustration with the Mansfield hotel is that it’s near the town centre and it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
“The announcements this week were good and they’ve already started looking at more appropriate sites, but the proof is in the pudding and I’ll believe it when I see it.
“We want to see people moved out of hotels.”
He added that the county council has been working as part of a “partnership” to support the asylum seekers while they are in Mansfield.
However, the council hasn’t created services or delivered anything specific to support the migrants since they arrived last month.
“Across our general services, we have input into health services and general caregiving, and we deliver those services in Mansfield,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s any direct service, that we’ve created something or delivered something specifically at the hotel, but we do have a duty to make sure everything fits together and works in a partnership.”
The hotel, which has not been named due to Home Office guidance, was first used to house the migrants on November 12.
It’s part of a nationwide scheme between the Government and contractors such as Serco to bring down an unprecedented backlog in asylum claims.
Other hotels across the country are currently being used, including in Erewash, Derbyshire, with ministers saying the scheme is costing millions per day.
Controversy initially surrounded the use of the Mansfield hotel after it emerged three people who were using it as temporary accommodation later presented as homeless.
However, Mansfield District Council confirmed assessments were made on all three homelessness claims and none met the criteria for homeless support.
The applicants went on to independently find alternative accommodation, a council report added.
Serco, the Home Office-appointed contractor running the Mansfield asylum scheme, also confirmed it “did not remove existing residents from the hotel”.
It said people are asked to leave hotels “for the safety and wellbeing” of people in its care after recent activities from some far-right groups.
Announcing the new accommodation plans, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We will shortly bring forward a range of alternative sites such as disused holiday parks, former student halls, and surplus military sites.
“We have already identified locations that could accommodate 10,000 people and are in active discussions to secure these and many more.
“Our aim is to add thousands of places through this type of accommodation in the coming months – at half the cost of hotels.”
