Government to disperse 400 asylum seekers from Blackpool's Metropole Hotel

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has confirmed the Government wants to end the use of hotels for this purpose and said the Metropole could be among the first to be ‘stood down’.

With more than 70,000 people seeking refugee in the UK in 2022, the use of hotels is costing taxpayers nearly £5 million a day, the Home Office said.

Instead, the Government wants to move those seeking asylum into ‘more sustainable accommodation’, though it has not specified where they will be relocated.

On Tuesday (November 8), Blackpool MP Paul Maynard stood up in the House of Commons and called on the Government to ensure the Metropole is among the first hotels to be vacated.

You can watch Mr Maynard’s speech and the Immigration Minister’s response in our video player above.

Addressing the Immigration Minister, he said: “The Home Office is accommodating 400 asylum seekers in the Metropole Hotel in the centre of Blackpool in my constituency.

"It lies in Claremont, the 4th most deprived ward in the country, an area with a host of social problems and a difficult history of child sexual exploitation.

"These problems were pointed out when the hotel was first commissioned by the Home Office, by me and by the Council. Those issues have not changed.

"Dispersal from the hotel has been slow. I welcome the fact he is going to exit the hotels, but can he make sure the Metropole is the first hotel to the exits?”

Robert Jenrick, UK Minister for Immigration, responded by saying he recognised that Blackpool has ‘borne a disproportionate burden’ and pledged to ‘swiftly disperse' migrants at the Metropole to more appropriate accommodation.

He added that other towns around the UK need to ‘step up and play a greater role’ in sheltering those seeking asylum.

He said: “As I said earlier, my objective is that we exit the hotels into more sustainable accommodation.

"I appreciate that Blackpool is one of those areas that has borne a disproportionate burden from this issue for a long time.

“And so, if there is a way in which we can ensure that individuals dispersed from Blackpool more swiftly than other parts of the country, then I’d be happy to look into that.

"That does require, in part, local authorities to step up and and play a greater role in accommodating, rather than relying time and again on our largest cities, on Kent and on a small number of other local authorities such as Blackpool.”

Following the Commons discussion, Mr Maynard – who has repeatedly voiced concerns about the use of the Metropole – greeted the Minister’s assurances as a ‘victory’ for the resort.

He said: “It was good to hear the Minister wants to stop using hotels altogether, and even better to hear that he is minded to include Blackpool in the first wave to be ‘stood down’.

"This is a victory after many months of lobbying that this is an inappropriate location. But success can only be guaranteed when we have seen it happen.”

Blackpool Council were approached for comment.