Rotherham Conservative councillors call for legal powers over hotel use for asylum seekers
Conservative councillors are set to call on Rotherham Council to review whether it could seek a legal injunction to prevent local hotels being used to house migrants in the future, before the legality of such use is determined.
A motion due before full council on 10 September says the long-term use of hotels is “not a sustainable solution” and risks putting “disproportionate pressures” on local services. If approved, it would instruct the council’s legal team to consider whether an injunction could be sought, as happened in Essex earlier this year.
It has been put forward by Conservative councillors Zachary Collingham and Simon Bacon.
It follows the Home Office’s decision to terminate its contract with the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers after violent disorder broke out there in August 2024. The hotel, which had been used to accommodate asylum seekers, was attacked during protests, leaving more than 60 police officers injured and the building so badly damaged it had to be taken out of use. Ministers later said the hotel would not be used again for asylum housing.
Councillors also want a review of the Rothercard discount scheme, after national reports suggested it was being used by asylum seekers for leisure activities. Council leader Chris Read has since confirmed that only one current cardholder is an asylum seeker, out of about 50,000 people eligible.
The motion also calls for RMBC to agree to ask to Government to ‘deport failed asylum seekers and illegal immigrants without lawful reason to remain,’ and ‘develop a sustainable, properly planned, and community consulted approach to housing migrants, that considers alternatives to hotels such as immigration centres.’
Opposition politicians and refugee charities have argued that the situation was made worse under the previous Conservative government, which failed to clear the asylum backlog and increased reliance on hotels. A Public Accounts Committee report earlier this year said the Home Office had ‘failed to get a grip’ on the issue.”
If approved, the motion would instruct the council’s legal team to explore whether an injunction could be sought to prevent hotels being designated without local input, as happened in a case in Essex earlier this year.