Contributions
2,215 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationI have been clear from the beginning of my tenure that I want to ensure that we always provide decent, but not luxurious, accommodation to all asylum seekers. I will say, however,…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationIn the letter that I wrote to the right hon. Gentleman and others, I said that 24 hours would be the bare minimum that we expect. I have asked officials to go beyond that already.…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationOn asylum seekers working, there are respectable arguments on both sides of the issue. I take the view that, for a range of different reasons, there are already significant pull…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationI have asked all our providers to noticeably step up the engagement they have with Members of Parliament and local authorities, including ensuring—this may be small, but none the…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationMy hon. Friend has raised those very valid points with me already. I will take them back to the Department to see what we can do to meet those standards in the future.23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationI am grateful to Liverpool City Council for the work that it is doing. We have set out a funding package for the council. I will be happy to keep in touch with the hon. Lady, if…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationMy hon. Friend is absolutely right that we must power through the backlog, which has been allowed to reach an unacceptable level. We will do so by raising the productivity of…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationWe want to have the most productive relationship with local government that we possibly can. As a former Local Government Secretary, I know just how effective local government can…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationI would be very happy to get back to the right hon. Gentleman and set out in detail the strategy for hotels and accommodation in his constituency. My approach has been: first, to…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationI will be happy to make some inquiries and come back to my hon. Friend.23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationI met the contractors and outsource partners of the Home Office earlier in the week, and I conveyed the frustrations that many Members have expressed to me, including some of the…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationWe have provided £3,500 per asylum seeker to local authorities such as Stoke-on-Trent, so that they have further support. The hotels that have been procured there are fully funded…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationI am increasing the personnel making decisions from about 1,000 to 1,500. However, the team who do the work have greater resources today than prior to the pandemic, yet…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationDear me! The reason I had to pull out of the meeting with local authority leaders was that the hon. Gentleman had called an urgent question and I was here answering his questions.…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationI can only speak to the situation as I found it when I arrived in the Department, and at that point there were almost 4,000 people at the Manston site. There were serious concerns…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationMy hon. Friend makes an important point. I have met and spoken to her on a number of occasions as she has voiced the serious concerns of her residents as well as those of Medway…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationI have a great deal of respect for the hon. Gentleman—he and I have worked together on local government matters for many years—and I will certainly ask my officials to speak to…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationAs I have said in answer to other questions, we want to move forward to a much better level of engagement with local authorities. From my prior experience in local government and…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationI have spoken to the Minister with responsibility for secondary care about the broader issue of doctors, nurses and other clinicians staying in hotel accommodation and how we can…23 Nov 2022HANSARDHotel Asylum Accommodation: Local Authority ConsultationIt is not the Government who have caused the issue here. The primary focus of our attention should be on the tens of thousands of people who are crossing the channel illegally,…23 Nov 2022