Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has taken recent steps with the NHS to help ensure that (a) hotel block bookings made by her Department do not displace (i) nurses and (ii) other public sector workers and (b) suitable alternative accommodation is found for workers who are affected by hotel block bookings.

Due to the unprecedented number of small boats arrivals and the historical pressure from COVID-19 measures on the asylum system, it has been necessary to continue to use hotels to accommodate some asylum seekers to meet our immediate statutory obligations.

Community cohesion is an important aspect of using contingency sites successfully and we actively engage and collaborate with relevant stakeholders including NHS and local authority partners to understand and act on any concerns appropriately, addressing these on a case-by-case basis.