MP confirms Rotherham hotel will no longer be used to house asylum seekers

Alexander Stafford, Conservative MP for Rother Valley, said that the Ibis in Bramley will no longer be used to house asylum seekers.

Mr Stafford told the local democracy reporting service: “It is great news that the Ibis at Bramley will no longer be used to house asylum seekers, and real proof that this Government’s plan is working.

“I fully support the Rwanda plan, along with other deterrents, to stop small boat crossings and smash the criminal gangs behind them. We must always be open to accepting genuine asylum seekers, but in order to do that we must to free up capacity in our asylum system.”

Robert Jenrick, minister for immigration, told the House of Commons yesterday (October 24) that the government will move asylum seekers out of 50 hotels by the end of January.

Occupants are expected to be moved to existing sites such as RAF Scampton.

Latest figures from the Home Office show the cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels has risen to £8 million a day.

The number of people in the UK waiting for a decision on their asylum claims rose to a record high in August, with more than 175,000 people waiting to see if they will be granted refugee status.

The number was up 44 percent from last year, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak set a target of clearning the backlog by the end of this year.