VerbatimParliament, as it happens

Asylum: Hotels

Asked by Sir Edward LeighConservativeHome OfficeTabled Answered 15 September 2025UIN 905656

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the reason for the increased number of asylum seekers in hotels on 30 June 2025 compared with the same date in 2024.

Answered by Alex Norris

This government inherited a hotels policy which saw 400 hotels opened and a staggering £9million spent a day housing migrants across the country.

Instead of clearing the asylum backlog to reduce those costs, the previous government allowed asylum decision-making to fall by 70 per cent in their last months in office.

I have been clear that I will do whatever it takes to secure our borders and end the use of hotels. This includes exploring the use of Ministry of Defence sites to get people out of hotels fast.

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