Jonathan Djanogly, Member of Parliament for the Huntingdon Constituency, has today welcomed the news that a St Ives hotel will stop housing asylum seekers. This is part of the Government’s efforts to cut asylum claims and close fifty hotels announced yesterday by the Immigration Minister, Robert Jenrick MP.

The exact timing of the closure is subject to contract between the hotel and the Home Office, but the hotel will cease to be used from November 2023.

The Home Office has always been clear the use of hotels was a short-term measure to ensure that we meet our statutory obligation to accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute during a period of unprecedented numbers of small boat arrivals.

The Government remains on track to clear the legacy backlog of cases and small boat arrivals are down by 20% in comparison to the same period in 2022. Therefore, plans have been advanced and revised to prevent a further 72 hotels from being used to provide asylum accommodation. This will save the taxpayer millions of pounds.

Residents of the hotel will be notified a minimum of five days in advance and moved to the existing contingency and dispersal estate.

Commenting on recent developments, Jonathan said:

“I’m sure the people of Huntingdonshire will be pleased that this hotel can once again begin to serve the community and get back to business. Hotels are valuable assets in any community and utilising this hotel for asylum seekers was necessary but was only ever there to serve as a short-term solution. This positive move will have an impact on businesses and tourism and remove the pressure on local public services.”