Letter to the Home Office

The Council reply is published here:

Dear Minister

RE: Home Office Asylum Accommodation Stanwell Hotel 171 Town Lane, Staines TW19 7PW Y

Thank you for your letter of 1 September date.

In your letter you state that the Home Office has reviewed the existing estate, considered the suitability of each site and taken a balanced and evidence-based approach in identifying the Stanwell Hotel as a site which could be used to accommodate single adult males.

Neither the criteria against which the Stanwell Hotel and its suitability were assessed against, nor the evidence to support the decision have been provided. Please can we have sight of this without further delay.

In your letter you also state that the Home Office "...remains committed to engaging with local authorities... to ... address community concerns...". How does the Home Office propose to address the growing concerns of the local community in the face of the decision to accommodate single adult males at the Stanwell Hotel?!

Finally, I look forward to receiving your response to the questions raised in my previous letters which remain unanswered:

• - Please confirm that the Council will be informed in advance of any changes;
• - Please share full criteria for determining this location was deemed suitable for single males only
• - Please confirm that the Home Office will urgently accelerate plans to reduce reliance on hotels and make it a priority to cease using the Stanwell Hotel for asylum seeker accommodation (all from the letter of 7 August)
• - Please confirm that asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel in Epping Forest will not be moved to the Stanwell Hotel (letter of 13 August)

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Joanne Sexton

Independent Spelthorne Group

Leader of Spelthorne Borough Council