"Asylum seeker pods in Warwickshire small and unsuitable" - families

[dutchman]

The families were staying at the Talbot Hotel in Leominster



Asylum seekers moved from a hotel in Herefordshire to pods in Warwickshire say they are too small for families and have heating and water issues.

Occupants of The Talbot Hotel in Leominster, an asylum hotel run by Serco, have been dispersed to new sites after government contracts ended.

But two families who moved to Dunchurch in Warwickshire on Friday said they are cold and their children are scared.

The Home Office said it took welfare issues "very seriously".

Warwickshire County Council said the Home Office was responsible for the hotels along with Serco, and it had escalated the concerns to Serco and to the hotel manager who has advised they will investigate.

The pods are self-contained and are open plan with a kitchenette and separate bathroom.

Although the authority understood they have heating, running water and a kitchen area, it added they were "small and not suitable for families in our view".

Speaking anonymously, one asylum seeker said the two pods they were allocated - one each for the children and adults - were not suitable.

He said the pods are close to tall, thick trees which scared the children, and when the wind blows it was loud and frightened them.

"We are not sleeping the last two nights and we are in the room with my children because they are very scared," he said.

"They don't go outside because they are scared and [because] of the darkness."

He said one pod was not warm because the heater was not working and they initially did not have any water, although that has now been fixed by Serco.

The heating issue has been looked at but not yet fixed, he added.

He said he also applied for three school places in Warwickshire but was told there were no spaces.

"We need to protect the children and we want to move [from] here urgently otherwise my children, mentally and physically, they are very bad in this situation," he said.

He added that the bathroom was "very cold" and his children could not use it.

He said facilities and the local environment were good at the hotel in Leominster, which was among a number across the UK to be closed to asylum seekers by the government.

The Talbot housed up to 75 people before the Home Office terminated its contract, meaning it will cease to be used as contingency accommodation for asylum seekers by the end of February.

In a statement, the Home Office said: "The Home Office continues to provide safe accommodation for asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute, as we work to end the use of hotels which are costing UK taxpayers £8.2million a day.

"We take the welfare of those in our care very seriously and have rigorous safeguarding processes in place.

"Any concerns raised are swiftly addressed through our work with the accommodation provider, and the Migrant Help 24/7 support line is also available to help migrants resolve any accommodation issues quickly."

[dutchman]

He said the pods are close to tall, thick trees which scared the children, and when the wind blows it was loud and frightened them.

[rebbonk]

Ungrateful, entitled b*st*rds.

If they were genuinely fleeing for their lives they'd be bl**dy thankful.

[dutchman]

Home Office asks for emergency £2.6bn after asylum seeker hotels overspend



The Home Office has sought an emergency cash payment of £2.6bn after unforeseen expenditure on hotels for asylum seekers.

James Cleverly has made a formal request for the money after a shortfall last year, when Suella Braverman was in charge for more than 11 months.

The request, made late in the financial year, has concerned Diana Johnson, the chair of the home affairs select committee. She plans to write to the home secretary to ask why the costs of housing asylum seekers was not included in the department’s main estimates.

The additional cash request has emerged in a written statement as the latest figures show that the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats last month was up 13% compared with the same time last year.

In the written statement, Cleverly said the “net cash requirement for the year exceeds that provided by the main estimate 2023-24”.

He added: “Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £2.6bn will be sought in a supplementary estimate for Home Office. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £2.6bn will be met by repayable cash advances from the contingencies fund.”

The overspend, which compares with a total budget of about £20bn, follows a £1bn overspend in the last financial year.

Whitehall sources said the extra cash was spent on hotel rooms for asylum seekers, during a period when the numbers being housed in hotels exceeded 50,000 for the first time.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said: “The Tories have completely bust the budget of the Home Office through staggering incompetence and chaos but the taxpayer is paying the price.

“The overspend this year is significantly worse than last year despite all Rishi Sunak’s promises. Their failure to clear the asylum backlog, end the use of hotels for asylum seekers stuck in their broken asylum system or sort out proper contracts has left them with an eye-watering £2.6bn black hole that the British taxpayer will need to fill. Time and again they go for gimmicks rather than ever getting a grip.”