Chorley hotel The Plaza Best Western strikes deal with Government to house asylum seekers

The Plaza Hotel, next to the Yarrow Bridge pub in Bolton Road, is the latest Lancashire hotel to be co-opted by the Home Office to house those seeking asylum in the UK.

The Best Western welcomed its first group of migrants on Friday, November 11, just hours after Chorley Council learnt of the Government’s plans.

The hotel is now being run by Serco, the Government contractor which was awarded a 10-year deal worth £2 billion in 2019, to provide accommodation and support for asylum seekers.

There are reports that hotel staff have lost their jobs due to the new arrangement, just weeks before Christmas, as many in the hospitality industry struggle with the cost-of-living crisis.

Best Western have been approached for further details.

Chorley Council said it was kept in the dark about plans to house migrants in the borough and was only told about the Plaza Hotel at the last minute.

Council leader Alistair Bradley has called the arrangement “completely unacceptable” and has demanded answers from the Government.

He said: “We received very little notice about this, being informed on Friday night (November 11), following a decision by the Home Office that the hotel was going to be used to house asylum seekers and believe people may have arrived at the hotel just hours after this.

“At the moment we have no information about the residents or how long the hotel will be used for as this is being dealt with by the Home Office and Serco.

"We need details of what is happening and we’re working to find out more.

"The situation is completely unacceptable and should have been done with proper planning and communication, so we are raising this at the highest level in Government so we can get some answers.

"We appreciate that Chorley residents may have comments on this situation, which we can feedback to the government via the Home Office.”

When asked about the Plaza, the Home Office said “it does not comment on operational arrangements for individual sites used for asylum accommodation”.

But it acknowledged that the use of hotels to house asylum seekers is ‘unacceptable’ and urged local authorities to find permanent accommodation for them.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain.

"The use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable – there are currently more than 37,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £5.6million a day.

"The use of hotels is a short-term solution and we are working hard with local authorities to find appropriate accommodation.

"We are engaging with local authorities as early as possible whenever sites are used for asylum accommodation and work to ensure arrangements are safe for hotel residents and local people.

"We would urge local authorities to do all they can to help house people permanently.”

The Plaza is the latest Lancashire hotel to be co-opted by the Home Office. Other hotels used to house migrants include the Best Western Leyland Hotel, Blackpool’s Britannia Metropole Hotel and the Ibis in Lancaster.

Last year, the Home Office struck a deal with the owners of Park Hall Hotel to house hundreds of migrants, without consulting Chorley Council. But the deal fell through after Council leaders held an urgent meeting with Home Office officials and Serco, which led to a Government u-turn on the plans.

Earlier this month, the immigration minister Robert Jenrick said the Government was committed to moving asylum seekers into ‘more sustainable and permanent accommodation’.

In addition to housing 37,000 asylum seekers in hotels, a further 60,000 migrants are currently living in ‘other Home Office-funded accommodation’, with more than 40,000 left waiting up to three years for a decision on their asylum application.

The Government said more than 40,000 migrants have crossed the Channel to the UK so far this year.