Rotherham hotel at centre of Southport riots will no longer house asylum seekers

Yesterday, the Home Office confirmed to Rotherham Council asylum seekers will not be sent back to the hotel.

It comes as the Government announced a range of measures designed to ‘significantly’ reduce net migration, which the Prime Minister called ‘shockingly high'.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics showed spending on asylum costs - which includes hotels - rose sharply under the previous Government, up 36 per cent from £3.95 billion in 2022/23 to £5.38 billion in 2023/24.

Figures also showed net migration fell by 20 per cent to an estimated 728,000 in the year to June 2024, while the net estimate for the previous year was revised up, to a record 906,000.

Yesterday, the Government announced a new deal with Iraq and and Kurdish Iraq to tackle people smuggling and boost border security, as well as an upcoming white paper to look at which industries with high levels of migrant labour reliance require extra support to train British workers.

But while Migration minister Seema Malhotra was unable to put a date on when the Government would be able to stop using hotels for asylum seekers – a manifesto pledge - a spokesman for the Home Office confirmed the Holiday Inn Express would no longer be one of the hotels used.

There has been considerable pressure for such a decision in recent months, including a petition.

Rotherham Council leader Chris Read said yesterday: “We are pleased that the new government has reached the right decision and responded to the representations we have been making.

"For the last three years, and of course repeatedly since the terrible events back in August, we have been making the case against the use of the Holiday Inn Express for people seeking asylum.

“It was always the case that this hotel was the wrong place to put people for long periods of time - many of whom were literally fleeing for their lives.

"We need an asylum system that treats people fairly and with dignity, assessing their claims quickly, and providing sanctuary to those who need it while removing anyone who tries to game the system.

“For too long under the last government that system was broken and run into the ground. It left thousands of people in limbo, living in hotels indefinitely, banned from working, separated from family and support networks, and with only a few pounds in their pockets.

"None of which is any excuse for the kind of horrendous and inhuman violence we saw in Manvers in the summer. Neither the hotel staff, the neighbouring community or the asylum seekers themselves should ever have had to endure that. Those responsible for that violence brought shame on our community.”

“In making this decision the government has thankfully recognised the problems with the hotel, and given assurance to neighbouring residents who have understandably been concerned that such trouble might be repeated again in the future.”

Dozens of people have been sentenced for their involvement in the Rotherham riots, including a 14-year-old boy who threw flaming items at police officers.

Among the longest sentence was for Scott Greenwood, who received a six-year sentence after he was filmed throwing wood on a fire which had been lit outside the hotel.

The owners of the hotel, IHG group, have been approached for comment.