The Government has abandoned controversial plans to house asylum seekers in a Pontins holiday camp, council officials have revealed.
The BBC reported that a council that had opposed the proposal on a number of grounds had now been told the Home Office would not be proceeding with it. The plan was tabled as ministers search for large sites to replace the costly use of hotels to house asylum seekers while their claims are assessed.
The proposals focused on the Pontins Southport Holiday Park, which is still operating as a resort. Labour-controlled Sefton Council was approached by Home Office officials late last year over the plan.
But the council was joined by Conservative MP for Southport Damien Moore in rejecting the conversion of the resort in Ainsdale into asylum accommodation. Councillors and officials are understood to have raised a number of objections, including the logistics of accessing the site and the impact on the local tourism industry.
The Home Office said it would not comment on any individual site. But a council spokesman said: "We have now been informed that the Home Office no longer wish to pursue plans to house asylum seekers at the Pontins site in Ainsdale. We are awaiting written confirmation of this decision."
The BBC reports that discussions are now focusing on fewer than 20 potential sites. But Home Office officials privately admit they will face local obstacles to opening any new large-scale asylum accommodation.
Local MP Mr Moore described the Pontins proposal as "completely inappropriate". He said an influx of vulnerable families would have added further pressure on local children's services - which have been rated "inadequate" by the regulator, Ofsted.
He also criticised the Government for failing to communicate with him properly over a key issue affecting his constituency. "MPs should be updated by Home Office officials on how discussions are going," Mr Moore said.
The Government says it wants to end the reliance on hotels to house asylum seekers, which is costing £6.8million a day. Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick is trying to find larger alternative sites which he says will be cheaper, including former student halls of residence, holiday parks and surplus military sites. A plan to turn a former RAF base in Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire into an asylum centre was scrapped last summer in the face of local opposition.
A Home Office spokesman said: "The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels due to the unacceptable rise in small boat arrivals and our commitment to accommodate those from Afghanistan. We therefore continue to look at all available options to source appropriate and cost-effective temporary accommodation."
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