(Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
Andy Burnham’s government will continue to close hotels housing asylum seekers, Downing Street has said, as pressure mounts on ministers to rethink proposals to move asylum seekers to a former RAF base near York.
North Yorkshire Council has urged ministers to drop the plans to house 1,250 single adult male asylum seekers at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, insisting it is “the wrong proposal in the wrong location”.
Politicians including the county’s Labour mayor have also criticised the plans, with the area’s MP Sir Alec Shelbrooke saying the village would be “overwhelmed” by the arrival of more than 1,000 new residents.
RAF Linton-On-Ouse in North Yorkshire which the Home Office is planning to use to house asylum seekers in its quest to shut more hotels
(Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
But Mr Burnham’s official spokesman confirmed that there is “no change in that work that’s being carried out” by Shabana Mahmood, who stayed on as Home Secretary when Mr Burnham took over from Sir Keir Starmer last week.
Plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers at the base in Linton-on-Ouse were previously considered in 2022, but the controversial scheme was abandoned following local opposition and a legal challenge from the then Hambleton District Council.
Last month, however, Sir Keir Starmer's government announced that plans were once again being considered to house asylum seekers at the base as part of efforts to reduce the use of hotels as accommodation.
Prime minister Andy Burnham
(Image: Aaron Chown/PA Wire)
Asked whether Mr Burnham would like to see the hotels continue to close, the prime minister’s spokesman replied: “The work on that continues.”
The prime minister’s spokesman also said: “I think the prime minister’s been clear in recent weeks that immigration is an issue that matters to people.
“He’s been clear in his reappointment of Shabana Mahmood as home secretary to continue to deliver the reforms needed to restore fairness to the system and get migration under control.”
He told reporters that the government had “removed nearly 70,000 illegal migrants and foreign criminals from the country since the last election, which is a 41 per cent increase”.
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Alex Norris, who became the justice secretary in Mr Burnham’s cabinet but was previously the border security minister, said fewer than 170 asylum hotels were in use, down from a peak of around 400 under the Conservative government.
To accommodate asylum seekers arriving in the UK, the government has planned to use “larger, more basic facilities”, he said.
This could include housing asylum seekers at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, as well as former military bases at Barnham in Suffolk and Bicester in Oxfordshire, which together could provide accommodation for around 3,750 people.
Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire Council
(Image: Submitted)
North Yorkshire Council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, has written to asylum minister Anna Turley raising concern over the plans.
The council leader, in the letter, said a motion opposing the scheme had passed with unanimous support from members across all political groups, reflecting “a clear and strongly held view that the proposal should not proceed”.
“We fully recognise the government’s stated obligations towards those seeking asylum. Our concerns are not directed at asylum seekers themselves, nor do they diminish the need for a fair, humane and effective asylum system,” Cllr Les wrote.
It comes after Cllr Les revealed North Yorkshire Council was not told the plans for Linton-on-Ouse were back on the table before a media announcement was made by the Home Office.
He also noted that the government’s plans will need planning permission to proceed but said it is “unlikely this will be for North Yorkshire Council to determine”.