The Home Office has removed Stay Belvedere Hotels (SBHL) from its asylum accommodation supply chain, citing concerns over the company's performance and behaviour as a government supplier. The firm, which manages 51 hotels across England and Wales as well as Napier barracks in Folkestone, Kent, will be replaced by Corporate Travel Management (CTM), the company that ran the Bibby Stockholm barge.
The 51 hotels are expected to close, with residents moved into existing accommodation. Napier barracks is already due to close in September and be returned to the Ministry of Defence. A transition period has begun, though no timeframe has been given. SBHL is a subcontractor of Clearsprings Ready Homes, one of three main providers of asylum accommodation.
The decision marks the first time the Home Office has axed a major provider in the decade since outsourcing asylum accommodation contracts worth £2bn a year. In 2021, a joint investigation by the Observer and ITV found allegations of sexual harassment, intimidation and underpayment of staff at SBHL-run sites.
Angela Eagle, the minister for border security and asylum, said: “Since July, we have improved contract management and added more oversight of our suppliers of asylum accommodation. We have made the decision to remove Stay Belvedere Hotels from the Home Office supply chain and will not hesitate to take further action to ensure Home Office contracts deliver for the UK.” SBHL said it had been informed of the decision and was holding discussions with partners.
The contract for managing the hotels will be transferred to existing providers Mears and Serco alongside CTM. Most of the hotels are in London, with others in Bournemouth, Eastbourne and Folkestone. More than 38,000 asylum seekers are currently in hotels, costing the Home Office £5.5m a day, while arrivals so far this year are up 36% to 5,847.
Sally Hough, director of Napier Drop-In Centre, said the site was “in chaos” from the outset and mismanagement of Covid protocols led to a mass outbreak of 197 cases. Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action, questioned whether handing contracts to the Bibby Stockholm operator would bring positive change, urging the government to end privately contracted accommodation and instead support local authorities. A cross-party home affairs committee is currently holding an inquiry into asylum accommodation.
