Council leader demands answers over Surrey asylum hotel
A council leader has written to the government, including the Prime Minister, to demand clarity on what is happening with an asylum hotel in Surrey.
Spelthorne Borough Council’s leader, Cllr Joanne Sexton has called for the minister for border security and asylum to “address this matter urgently” after months of uncertainty about the future of Stanwell Hotel.
The Prime Minister Keir Starmer was also copied into the most recent letter, sent on Friday (September 26).
The situation has been rumbling on since July, when the government announced plans to move families seeking asylum out of the hotel and to replace them with single men.
In her latest letter, Cllr Sexton wrote: “My understanding is that the families that were residing at the Stanwell Hotel have now been relocated outside the Borough.
“Please can you confirm this is the case and address the questions in my previous letters.
“Including what the Ministry is intending to do with the hotel, the current occupancy and for what length of time that they will be placed there?
The member from the Independent Spelthorne Group also warned that the issue was becoming a “matter of high significance” for local people, stressing the need for clear answers.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We have committed to close all asylum hotels and to achieve this, we will look at a range of more appropriate sites like disused accommodation, industrial and ex-military sites so that we can reduce the impact on communities.
“We are working closely with local authorities, property partners and across-government so that we can accelerate delivery and more detail will be set out in due course.”