Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department provides compensation for financial losses incurred by people who have (a) weddings and (b) other bookings cancelled as a result of her Department's contracts with hotels to accommodate asylum seekers (i) generally and (ii) when standard wedding insurance does not cover the loss. .

Successive years in which record numbers of people have crossed the Channel in small boats has placed our asylum infrastructure under immense strain. In order to meet our statutory obligations to accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute, we have been forced to temporarily house asylum seekers in hotels. The use of hotels is a short term solution and we are working hard with Local Authorities and our accommodation providers to find more appropriate accommodation.

Hotel owners are under no obligation to enter into a contract with our providers. However, they recognise a commercial benefit from this arrangement. The decision to cancel any pre booked reservations is the responsibility of the hotel and not the Home Office.