Council leaders say that 'Leicestershire's taking more than its fair share of asylum seekers'

They have written to the government to raise their concerns.

The leader of Leicestershire County Council and the leader of North West Leicestershire District Council have written to the Government about accommodating asylum seekers in the county.

According to the letter written by Nick Rushton and Richard Blunt, 220 more asylum seekers are due to be placed in the county, which would take the total to 663. This is higher than in Lincolnshire (426) and Northamptonshire (421).

Nick Rushton said: “Public services are already at bursting point. It places extra pressure on already stretched frontline services. When people arrive with little or no notice, we have to divert resources away from other priorities. It’s unacceptable to place extra pressure on councils without providing more funding, so that we can do the right thing by these people in ensuring they get the care and attention they need.

“With over 600 asylum seekers in Leicestershire, compared to just under 100 in Nottinghamshire, we’ve asked the Government to explain the uneven distribution.  

“The Covid pandemic showed that local government knows their communities better than Whitehall does - and certainly better than Serco - and can ably support national priorities. It’s disappointing that lessons don’t seem to have been learned.”

A government spokesperson said: “The government has been clear that the use of hotels to house asylum seekers needs to stop as they are an expensive short-term solution, costing the UK taxpayer £5.6 million a day. 

“We engage 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 are working with our accommodation providers and local authorities to find longer-term accommodation to create a fairer Full Dispersal model which helps end the use of hotels.”