A virtual information session is to be hosted by the Wales Strategic Migration Partnership at 19:00 on Tuesday 22 August to address residents' concerns regarding the use of the Stradey Park hotel. The hotel will be used as a temporary contingency hotel for the accommodation of destitute asylum-seeking families only.
The session aims to give residents clear, factual information and provide reassurance about how Clearsprings Ready Homes and local agencies will support the families placed at the hotel. Up to 241 people will arrive in small groups as part of a phased approach.
No families will be arriving at the hotel prior to this information session taking place.
At the session, representatives from the Home Office, their accommodation provider Clearsprings Ready Homes, Hywel Dda University Health Board, Carmarthenshire County Council, Dyfed-Powys Police and Migrant Help will address issues and questions raised by residents.
The chair of the session, Canon Aled Edwards OBE, the former Chief Executive of Cytun Churches Together in Wales said:
“We recognise the concerns raised by the community who want clarity about the use of the Stradey Park hotel as accommodation for asylum-seeking families. This online session will seek to provide an opportunity for the Home Office and their accommodation provider, Clearsprings Ready-Homes to address concerns, in addition to hearing how local services will respond to support the guests.
“We want to make the session as informative as possible to build understanding so your questions are important to us - please get in touch.”
Questions for panel members should be submitted via email to infoevent@wlga.gov.uk by 09:00 on Monday 21 August. Common themes will be identified from the submitted questions and the panel will be asked to speak to these, to maximise the time available. Submitted questions will not be asked individually due to anticipated high interest from the public.
It is important to note that this will be an information session and there will be no opportunity to comment or ask further questions during the session. If you wish to have your question considered by the panel, you must submit it in advance. Panel members will not be able to comment on any ongoing court proceedings.
An updated question-and-answer document will be made available following the session.
Enquiries may be rejected if they are defamatory, racist, frivolous, or offensive. Only the chair and panel members will be visible. Cameras, microphones and chat functions for those joining the session will be disabled.
Members of the public will be able to join the session live via the following link:
https://bit.ly/45dNwKM
A recording be available after the session.
Ends –
Notes to Editors:
In accordance with the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, the Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation, and subsistence support whilst their application for asylum is being considered. However, additional pressures have been placed on the system, and the teams working within it, to find suitable and sufficient accommodation.
The increase in dangerous small boat crossings is causing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system and we are in a migration crisis.
The use of hotels is a contingency measure, in order to meet our statutory obligation to house asylum seekers whilst we consider their claim for international protection.
The Home Office continues to see a higher than anticipated intake resulting in continued demand for asylum support and accommodation services. This has resulted in services users being accommodated in hotels for longer than we had envisioned. We are however taking steps to resolve this and bring an end to hotel use as contingency accommodation and continue to work across Government and with local authorities to look at a range of accommodation options. Nevertheless we continue to accommodate a large number of people who have recently arrived in the UK seeking protection and the use of hotels as a contingency measure enables the Home Office to continue to discharge its statutory duties.