Five asylum seekers have been housed in a property in Fleckney, Leicestershire, as part of the Government’s plan to end the use of migrant hotels. The move has prompted Conservative MP for South Leicestershire Alberto Costa to claim he was not consulted before the decision was made.
MP writes to Home Secretary
Costa said that Fleckney lacked the infrastructure and services of a place like Leicester, which he believes would be a more suitable location. He claimed the decision was made without consulting him, other elected representatives or residents, prompting him to write to the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood.
However, a spokesperson for Harborough District Council said it had kept relevant stakeholders informed, speaking to Harborough FM. They said safety and wellbeing considerations were “primarily matters for Serco when assessing suitable locations”.
Government plans to end migrant hotels
Private contractor Serco sources and manages the accommodation on behalf of the Government, which is working with local authorities to house asylum seekers in accommodation, including ex-military sites, to end the use of migrant hotels. Five military sites are either in use or being explored, including MOD Bicester, MOD Barnham and MOD Linton-On-Ouse, and numbers in asylum hotels have halved in the last year to 16,000.
However, these plans have faced backlash in some areas, such as Piddington, Oxfordshire. Residents voted to become independent from the UK in a symbolic referendum to protest plans to house more than 1,000 migrants at a former military base nearby.
Previous plans dropped
Previous plans to house asylum seekers in Kibworth were dropped following protestations by Harborough Conservative MP Neil O’Brien.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The concerns of communities are central to our immigration reforms. That is why we are closing every asylum hotel and moving asylum seekers into alternative accommodation, including former military sites.
“We are working to fairly house asylum seekers across the country, engaging with local authorities to reduce the impact on communities, and we have saved taxpayers over £1 billion on asylum support costs since the election.”
More than 80,000 people with no right to be in the UK have reportedly been removed or returned since the general election in 2024.
