Wigan community's second hotel to close to asylum-seekers

Politicians today welcomed the news that the Britannia at Almond Brook, Standish, will be wound down as migrant accommmodation by July after being the focus of long-running controversy.

Since it was requisitioned by the Home Office and its asylum-seeker accommodation operator Serco in 2016, local people and their political representatives have argued that it was an inappropriate location, while community members have been divided in their approach to the residents, some being more hospitable than others.

And the temperature in one of Wigan’s more affluent areas rose further last year when the Kilhey Court Hotel at Worthington was also converted into asylum-seeker accommodation, leading to protests in both the village and Wigan town centre. The Britannia itself was the scene of more than one demonstration by the right wing Britain First movement.

Even before the Kilhey project began, the Government was already saying it was moving away from using hotels to house migrants, not least because of the high costs involved, and so after only a few months, it was announced that the Worthington hotel’s Serco contract was ending. It has since begun welcoming paying guests again.

And now Standish is seeing its other asylum-seeker accommodation coming to an end too.

The township’s councillors Terry Mugan, Debbie Parkinson and Ray Whittingham were informed by Wigan Council, which has been liaising with Serco and the Home Office, that Britannia is terminating its contract with Serco in the summer.

In a statement, they wrote: “We have continued to work with all stakeholders including Wigan Council for months in meetings, sending emails and letters and following our work to close Kilhey Court before Christmas we are pleased to announce that Serco’s contract with the Britannia Hotel will end at the beginning of July this year.

“Between now and then even if the hotel is empty, the Home Office will be responsible for the facility until the end of the contract.

“To date we have no idea on the future use of this site.

“This is welcome news for Standish, the borough and for those vulnerable people seeking accommodation and refuge.”

Speaking to Wigan Today later, Coun Parkinson added: “I don’t think there are many residents in there at the moment and over the coming weeks they will be dispersed elsewhere. This appears to be the latest step in the Government’s plan to reduce hotel use and to deploy alternatives such as barges for asylum-seekers instead.

"We welcomed the visitors to Standish and some people have shown them charity through the donation of clothes and so on.

"But Standish has done its bit and it’s time the hotel was returned to the community.”

Coun Parkinson said she had no idea what was going to happen next to the site, adding: “One person said it is going to become a precinct with a doctor’s surgery, another said there were going to be more houses there and another said it is going to become a drive-thru McDonald’s. In truth though, people just make things up if they don’t know. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next.”

A spokesperson for Wigan Council said: “We have received confirmation from the Home Office that the Britannia Hotel will cease being used as accommodation for those seeking asylum by the beginning of July.

“Wigan Council and its partners have consistently voiced concerns about the use of hotels for this purpose and the knock-on impacts on local services. The council has voiced these concerns directly to the Home Office on several occasions.

“Our borough has a strong track record of supporting non-UK residents who are vulnerable and in need. We remain committed to supporting such individuals but we have a responsibility to ensure this is done as responsibly and safely as possible.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are making significant progress with moving asylum seekers out of hotels, which cost UK taxpayers £8.2million a day.

“We have already exited 100 hotels and we will exit more in the coming months.”

"We work closely with accommodation providers and local authorities to manage the exit process in a way which limits the impact on partners and service users alike.

“Accommodation is allocated on a no-choice basis and individuals may be moved to other locations in line with the Allocation of Accommodation guidance.

“We continue to ensure the accommodation provided is safe, secure, leaves no one destitute and is appropriate for an individual’s needs.

“Residents currently accommodated in the hotels we will be exiting will be moving to other parts of our asylum estate. They will be notified a minimum of five days in advance and moved by the Home Office in line with our existing published policies.

“We have acted to speed up asylum processing whilst maintaining the integrity of the system. This includes simplifying guidance and streamlining processes. We have also introduced shorter, focused interviews, making the interview process more efficient.”

Asylum-seeker accommodation in Standish has been a political hot potato for several years and was sure to have been a point of debate in the forthcoming council elections.

But with this week’s Home Office announcement, the wind will have been taken out of some candidates and campaigners’ sails.

Britannia Hotels has been asked for a comment but at the time of publication it had not responded.