Number of asylum seekers housed in Milton Keynes hotels drops from 168 to 60

This time last year there were 168 people who had been put up in local hotel accommodation by the government whiletheir asylum cases were being determined.

Today there is just 60, according to data from the Home Office.

The drop in numbers is mainly due to the termination of the government contract for Woughton House Hotel, which had been used to house up 100 asylum seekers, mainly young males, since 2022.

The premises were put up for sale earlier this year and are now being advertised as ‘boutique hotel rooms’ and a wedding venue.

Another local hotel, Harben House, in Newport Pagnell was earmarked to accommodate up to 200 asylum seekers last year, but the project was scrapped after it was found the owner had a conviction for fraud.

This hotel is now to become a council-run centre to provide temporary accomodation for homeless people in the city.This week a

Home Office figures show the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels has dropped 41% across the UK, from 50,500 in June 2023 to 29,600 at the same point this year.

Meanwhile, a refugee charity has said hotels are a bad choice for asylum seekers.

Imran Hussain from the Refugee Council, said: "Hotels should never be used... people in asylum hotels are isolated, struggle with their mental health, and may be targeted by far-right attacks, as we saw a few weeks ago."

In total, 132 asylum seekers were receiving a form of government support in Milton Keynes as of June.

This was down from 198 in June 2023.

The national backlog of asylum applicants has remained steady since last quarter, even if it has dropped compared to a year earlie

Some 118,900 people were waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of June. This was down by 32% from 175,500 the previous year.

The figures come amid calls to allow asylum seekers to work while their applications are being processed.

The Lift the Ban coalition, made up of think tanks, faith groups and refugee organisations among others, described the policy as "regressive, hostile and self-defeating".

Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action said: "The new government could improve people’s lives, increase community cohesion and give a huge boost to local economies by giving people seeking asylum the right to work."

A Home Office spokesperson said the government is taking steps to strengthen border security and stop channel crossings.

They said: "The Home Secretary has taken immediate action to clear the asylum backlog and enhance the Government’s immigration enforcement and returns capability, redeploying hundreds of staff to increase the removal of those with no right to be here.”

They added: "As announced this week, we have also recruited up to 100 new specialist officers at the National Crime Agency who will work alongside our new Border Security Command to target, disrupt and dismantle criminal smuggling gangs making millions in profit."