'I want to see asylum seeker hotels closed'

NEWCASTLE'S council leader has backed a Government promise to stop housing asylum seekers in hotels - and wants local officials to be handed more power to help fix a "broken system".

- DANIEL HOLLAND Local democracy reporter

Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed in her Spending Review this month that Labour plans to end the use of hotels as asylum accommodation, in an effort to save billions of pounds in taxpayer money.

The National Audit Office estimated recently that the cost of accommodation contracts signed in 2019 by the Home Office with private companies including Mears and Serco will be £15.3bn over 10 years, more than triple the expected £4.5bn. There have also been serious concerns about the living conditions inside those hotels with an inquiry conducted by Newcastle councillors in 2023 claiming that refugees arriving in the city had been left "isolated and vulnerable", without fresh food or appropriate medical facilities, and as targets for far-right protests.