A hotel in Middleton which houses asylum seekers is set to close in the coming weeks, it has been confirmed. This comes following a Home Office announcement in October that said 50 migrant hotels would be closed by March 2024.
Hotels in Wigan and Rochdale formed part of the initial 50 hotels proposed by immigration minister Robert Jenrick in Parliament.
Another hotel in Rochdale, also run by operator Serco, was closed just before Christmas. Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link. A spokesperson for Serco said: “I can confirm that we will stop using this hotel for asylum seeker accommodation in line with the Home Office Hotel Exit strategy and that the people there will be moved to alternative accommodation." According to the government, asylum seekers currently accommodated in these hotels will be moving to other parts of the UK’s asylum estate, including the Bibby Stockholm barge.
Capacity has also been increased by making better use of current sites, Whitehall says, and by optimising room sharing and alternative accommodation, such as the former military base at Wethersfield.
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