URGENT PART I BUSINESS
To consider any Part I business accepted by the Chair as urgent.
Decision:
Use of Ibis Hotel as accommodation for Asylum Seekers
The Leader advised that, on 3 December 2022, the Council was notified that the Home Office wanted to work with Hertfordshire County Council and Stevenage Borough Council to determine which cohort would best fit the Ibis Hotel site up until 16 December 2022, noting that it had a maximum bedspace of 178. This was in addition to the 183 asylum seekers already placed by the Home Office in the Novotel Hotel adjacent to Junction 7 of the A1(M).
The Leader stated that neither she nor officers believed that the use of the Ibis Hotel was acceptable, and felt that it would bring significant challenges for public sector providers, for local communities, and for those accommodated.
The Leader commented that there was already stretched educational and health provision in the Borough and nationwide, which would be stretched further by the use of hotels by the Home Office for the above purpose. She recognised the Council’s shared obligation to provide a safe environment for those seeking asylum, but considered that it was unacceptable that disruptive, challenging and inappropriate proposals for the use of large scale hotels within Stevenage were still being brought forward by the Home Office.
The Leader was surprised that the Home Office was prepared to use the Ibis Hotel for the accommodation of asylum seekers, which they had discounted some months ago. The Home Office had completely disregarded the work of the Regional Strategic Migration Partnership.
The Leader stated that she had no confidence in the Home Office’s pledge that the Ibis Hotel would only be used for the purpose until 16 December 2022. She had also learned that the Home Office had signed a booking contract with the hotel owners in Mid November 2022, but had failed to notify the Council, the Local MP, or partner authorities of its pending use until 3 December 2022. As a result, the Council and its partners had been unable to put any support provision in place for the asylum seekers.
The Leader explained that the hotel would contain single male asylum seekers, a decision which had been taken with no regard to the community safety concerns already raised by the Council and its partner organisations since the Novotel had been identified as a similar contingency hotel.
The Leader advised that, in response to the Home Office notification, the Chief Executive had respectfully, but firmly, asked Home Office officials to remove the Ibis site for future consideration beyond 16 December 2022. The Council had also called for an urgent meeting with the Home Secretary and the Local MP to make the strength of local views known. This was in addition to a request that the Home Secretary (or her representative) visits the Novotel Hotel in Stevenage to see how unsuitable it was for the placing of asylum seekers.
The Leader expressed a further concern that moving exiting hotel use into a dedicated form of hotel provision could breach planning regulations, noting that legal ... view the full decision text for item 8.