Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her medium term plan is for accommodation for asylum seekers.

The Home Office aims to gradually end the use of hotels and move asylum seekers to less expensive and more suitable dispersed accommodation, aided by the full asylum dispersal model which was announced on 13 April 2022.

The Department has established a programme of work to actively encourage the three private providers of asylum accommodation and Local Authorities to support the procurement of sufficient dispersed accommodation. Each of the private providers have supplied plans to increase the availability of dispersed accommodation on a month-by-month basis. Proactive monitoring has been crucial to the programme. This has included regular assessment of performance and tracking progress against plan, and challenging providers on the specific initiatives that they are putting in place to support the closure of hotels.

The Home Office will shortly bring forward a range of larger alternative sites that are cheaper for the taxpayer such as disused holiday parks, former student halls, and surplus military sites.