Over 20 West Midlands hotels filled by asylum seekers

An Express & Star investigation has revealed the full extent to which hotels in the region are being used as part of the Government’s asylum seeker resettlement scheme – with some closed to the public until next May due to being filled with migrants.

At least 22 hotels in the region are currently being used under the programme, which Serco runs for the Home Office at a cost of £2.4 billion a year.

One hotel is used solely for unaccompanied children, while at others groups of asylum seekers have been put up for more than six months. At least three prominent hotels are currently in talks over taking in asylum seekers.

The Home Office is understood to be seeking holiday camps and empty care homes to cope with spiralling demand, while homeowners in the Midlands have been offered cash to take in asylum seekers.

Councils have been told to expect a 30 per cent increase in the use of hotels, leaving the region short of beds for people visiting for business or leisure.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told the Express & Star the Government had “completely failed” over asylum.

He said: “This is a direct consequence of the failure of the Home Office to deal with asylum applications in a timely way.”

The system has been put under increased strain this year due to nearly 40,000 migrants crossing the Channel in small boats – around 10,000 more than in 2021.

The Home Office said the use of hotels to house asylum seekers was “unacceptable” and that “appropriate” accommodation was being sought.

It came as pressure mounted on Home Secretary Suella Braverman over accommodation for asylum seekers following concerns of overcrowding at Manston migrant centre in Kent.

For security reasons, the Express & Star has agreed not to name hotels that are being used as part of the scheme, but they include high profile buildings across the region.

Data shows that, while parts of the West Midlands is taking in large numbers of people, other areas are not involved.

The Black Country had helped 2,811 asylum seeker applicants by the end of 2021. Birmingham was home to 1,897 asylum seekers and there were 882 in Stoke-on-Trent. But some neighbouring authorities, including South Staffordshire, have not taken any.

According to official figures there were more than 63,000 asylum applications in the year to June, up 77 per cent on 2019.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to fix the asylum system after admitting "not enough" asylum claims were being processed on time.