Asylum seekers have begun moving into a hotel in the affluent Trafford suburb of Hale. Trafford council has been told the Britannia Ashley Hotel was to be used to accommodate a mix of families and single women from today (Wednesday February 1).
The council says it has a legal duty to provide healthcare and safeguarding and is working with NHS colleagues and local charities around practical issues, like supplying clothing and toiletries, as the group are only entitled to a small subsistence payment.
The council’s community safety team is also liaising with Greater Manchester Police. Two weeks ago, Trafford council leader Tom Ross, wrote to Home Secretary Suella Braverman, raising concerns over the ‘lack of dialogue and planning’ about the Home Office’s decision to house the asylum seekers at the hotel.
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A Trafford council spokesman said: “We were alerted on Friday afternoon that the cohort of asylum seekers would begin arriving at the Britannia Hotel in Hale. Council teams are on stand-by and contingency plans have been worked-up so we can fulfil our statutory responsibilities in terms of practical issues like public health.”
Coun Ross added: “I wrote to the Home Secretary two weeks ago setting out why housing asylum seekers in hotels like this is a terrible idea. These are difficult enough issues to grapple with, without the Home Office only letting us know at the last minute.
"As I wrote in my letter to Suella Braverman, our teams will play their part with professionalism and dedication, but this policy is utterly disjointed.”
The plan to put more than 100 asylum-seekers in the hotel have been described by Altrincham and Sale MP Sir Graham Brady as the ‘most inappropriate location'.
As previously reportedby the M.E.N., Sir Graham has said accommodating the group of young men, who would not be allowed to work, could cause issues in the village.
He pointed out that Hale, south of Altrincham, has a population of just over 15,000. Sir Graham said he had called for a meeting with the Home Secretary to discuss the plans and that the proposals had caused ‘disquiet’ among many of his constituents. He said that the hotel in question was ‘obviously the most inappropriate location you could imagine’.
Sir Graham added: “I think it’s the worst possible place to house a very large number of young men who are by definition, because they are not allowed to work, unemployed. I met with a senior official from the Home Office three days before Christmas and communicated that.”
He said he believed there were more suitable facilities for housing such a group elsewhere.
The Home Office has said it did not comment on arrangements for individual sites used for asylum accommodation.
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