Council calls for improvements in asylum accommodation system
The Home Office should review its current methods for accommodating asylum seekers in communities.
A meeting of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council’s Full Council agreed that the Home Office and other Government agencies be asked to find a better way to help asylum seekers and local communities.
The meeting heard that although there are no hotels accommodating asylum seekers in the Borough, there were concerns that Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) were being used instead.
Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said:
We are happy to support those in genuine need, but we are worried about placements into unsuitable accommodation, including Houses of Multiple Occupation and short-term lets, often in areas without the necessary support infrastructure.
As well as leaving the occupants without the right support close by, long term it has the potential to affect local rental markets by reducing availability and increasing prices.
We are considering how best to use the powers we have, particularly around unauthorised change of use to HMOs, and we will not hesitate to use planning law appropriately.”
The council has previously discussed the issue with Staffordshire County Council, plus Staffordshire’s other district and borough councils, to develop a shared approach in lobbying the Home Office to improve the system.
It has also asked the town’s MP to raise the issue with Government ministers, arguing for a more collaborative approach between the Home Office, its contractors and local authorities who have often little or no warning about arrivals.
Simon Tagg added:
Our concern is not with the principle of offering support to those in need, but with the manner in which it is being done.
It is essential that national policy reflects the practical realities faced by local authorities and their residents. We want to be properly consulted on what is happening.”