Home Office using 90 hotels to house migrants — including 4-star accommodation

NINETY hotels are being used by the Home Office to house migrants.

In a shocking admission, Home Office officials have warned the hotels are ";not great value for the taxpayer”.

The accommodation - which includes high-end four-star rated hotels - is part of a £4 billion ten-year contract between the Home Office and three outsourcing giants - including Serco. The other firms are Mears and Clearsprings.

The Sun understands the firms then take over the running of the hotel from chains. It comes amid a massive spike in migrants arriving across the Channel on small boats.

The Home Office has been accused of keeping the public in the dark by refusing to say how many migrants are staying in the 90 hotels.

The shocking number was revealed in a public meeting held to discuss concerns over army barracks now being used to house migrants.

Nearly 7,000 have made the crossing this year in small boats.

Deborah Chittenden, director of borders, immigration and citizenship system for the Home Office, told the meeting around 90 hotels were being used.

She said: "We have significant numbers of people in hotels at the moment.

"They are not great value for the taxpayer, however we have to use them because they are available accommodation."

Natalie Elphicke, Member of Parliament for Dover & Deal, said: "This year more than 6,000 illegal entrants have arrived into the UK through Dover on the small boats route. That is entirely unacceptable.

"We are now seeing the huge strain that poses on accommodation, policing, security, emergency services and social services in Kent, as well as to the taxpayer and public purse across the nation.

"It isn’t enough simply to discuss where migrants could be housed. I have been in regular contact with Minsters to make the case that we need to tackle illegal immigration gangs at source.

"That means the French stopping boats from leaving their shores in the first place, turning round boats at sea back to France and returning illegal entrants to France and other countries. In that way we can bring an end to the small boat crossings crisis once and for all."

Serco won a contract for around £1.9 billion for providing accommodation for migrants, which it boasted was the biggest in its history.

Joe Ventre, digital campaign manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: "Taxpayers are right to be concerned about the mounting bill for these hotel stays.

"Whilst the government must keep migrants safe and housed, hotels are more expensive than almost any other form of housing.

"Ministers must keep a lid on spending and hotel stays must only be used as a last resort."

The upmarket four-star Midland Hotel in Derby had 230 migrants placed there.

The hotel, considered of the smartest in the city, charges hundreds of pounds a night for a room.

Many were also housed in the Britannia Hotel and Spa in Bromsgrove, Worcs.

And hundreds were housed at The Royal Hotel in Hull.

Others have stayed at hotels in Birmingham, Southport, Nottingham and Glasgow. Many are also low-budget.

The hotel figure was revealed at a meeting where members of the public voiced their concerns about migrants being housed at Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent.

The Home Office said the use of sites such as former barracks could save taxpayers up to 50 per cent of the cost of hotel placements.

The camp has attracted protests from far-right groups.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: "The Home Office has a statutory duty to provide asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute with accommodation and support.

"Due to the pressure on our asylum system, we require additional, alternative accommodation options. This is why we have opened up two sites provided by the Ministry of Defence in Kent and Pembrokeshire, which will also ease our reliance on the temporary use of hotels, and provide savings for the taxpayer of up to 50 per cent.

"We continue to work with our providers to improve the value for money on all of our accommodation, including in hotels, and secure longer-term solutions."

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