Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 21
21
Accepted
Home Office exits leave hotels in derelict conditions, burdening local communities with regeneration costs.
Conclusion
We have heard reports, including from our own constituencies, that some hotels have been left in derelict conditions following the Home Office exiting them. We received written evidence from London Councils which told us that there were concerns across the London boroughs about the standards of accommodation, including (but not limited to) concerns about poor light and ventilation, poor food quality, leaks and fire safety. We therefore asked the Home Office what consideration it had given to managing the impact on local communities, when taking over, and then leaving hotels. The Home Office told us that there were wider disbenefits to local areas of having hotels out of use, but that these 30 Qq 229–230, 240; C&AG’s report, Asylum Accommodation, paras 4.11, 4.14 31 Qq 232–233, C&AG’s Report, Asylum Accommodation, Figure 10, para 4.11 32 C&AG’s Report, Asylum accommodation, Figure 2, para 2.2 33 Qq 215–217; 220–221; C&AG’s Report, Asylum accommodation, para 2.4 Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership 15 were very hard to quantify although it had “work under way to continue to assess that”. We suggested that it was risking placing a burden on local communities to return hotels to their former standards. The Home Office told us that whilst it had liaison officers working directly with every local authority, it “did not have a pot of money to regenerate hotels”.34
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and will establish a working group with local authorities to address issues related to "Move On" from asylum accommodation and will implement tools for sharing regular, timely data to help local authorities plan for smoother transitions and anticipate demand on their services.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.2 The Home Office will establish a working group with the Local Government Association and Local Authority Chief Executive regional leads to address issues raised at the national Asylum, Resettlement Councils Senior Engagement Group. This group will identify, and address issues related to Asylum Casework and Move On from asylum accommodation. 4.3 Central to Home Office plans to collaborate and work with Local Authorities (LAs) is sharing regular, timely and relevant data and Management Information to allow effective planning. We are building a number of tools to provide updates to individual Local Authorities. The Discontinuation Prediction Tool (DPT) is shared weekly with Strategic Migration Partners (SMPs) for onward sharing with LAs to provide a 4-week prediction of cases (by group size). This enables LAs to anticipate potential demand on their services and to support a smoother transition from Home Office accommodation to mainstream services. The Place Based Visibility Tool (PBVT) which shows pre-decision asylum cases specific to an area will be built and shared once plans for asylum casework are confirmed and will include Resettlement and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children/National Transfer Scheme data. The department will look to further develop LA reporting dependent on Home Office Data Infrastructure.