Hundreds of asylum seekers left in hotels for months on end in Gloucestershire

Hundreds of asylum seekers are still living in hotels across Gloucestershire months after they arrived in the county.

Around 80 per cent of the roughly 400 asylum seekers that arrived in Gloucestershire in December are still living in what should have been short-term accommodation.

Insiders say most asylum seekers are staying in hotels for more than three months.

This is despite the idea that asylum seekers are meant to be only initially placed in hotels and then dispersed when a property becomes available.

“The reason that’s not happening is because the Home Office decision making process has ground to a halt,” a source said.

“During lockdown, they almost completely stopped making decisions and are only up to around 50 per cent of pre-Covid numbers. A hotel is really not a place to live.”

The Home Office says there are 37,000 migrants being accommodated in hotels across the UK at a cost of more than £5 million a day.

They say their New Plan for Immigration means the Government is working with all local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland to accommodate destitute asylum seekers and to end the unacceptable use of hotels.

A Government spokesperson said: “The asylum accommodation system is under enormous pressure due to the huge increase in dangerous small boat crossings and illegal migration.

“There are over 37,000 migrants being accommodated in hotels – at a total cost, when including those on resettlement schemes, to the taxpayer of more than £5 million a day.

“We are committed to working in partnership with local authorities to create a fairer full dispersal model which helps end the unacceptable use of hotels and responds to changing demands”

All local authority areas in England, Scotland and Wales became an asylum dispersal area by default on April 13.

The Home Office says this shift to full dispersal will increase the number of suitable properties that can be procured for destitute asylum seekers.

Credit: Local Democracy Reporter Service/Carmelo Garcia