Staffordshire hotels to stop housing asylum seekers in coming months
An MP has welcomed news that a South Staffordshire hotel will no longer be used to house asylum seekers.
The Home Office has announced that the hotel, between Wolverhampton and Stafford, will cease to be used for that purpose from February onwards.
It is understood there are approximately 120 asylum seekers staying at the hotel at the moment.
Sir Gavin Williamson said another hotel, in the Cannock area, would also stop housing asylum seekers before Christmas.
He said: "There's been a lot of concern about both of these hotels being used like this,
"It's not the right place to be, either for the local community, or for the asylum seekers themselves.
"If you have got a large number of people staying in a village or rural community, there will not be the same access to services required, and in some cases the resources will be quite scarce.
"Equally, if you have got an hotel in the community, you want it to be used as an hotel.
"People in the area have been very hospitable, but it would be better for the hotel to go back to providing tourists with somewhere to stay while they are visiting the area, and bringing money into the rural economy."
Sir Gavin said he had raised his concerns on a number of occasions with immigration minister Robert Jenrick and Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
