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Government slammed for housing asylum seekers in ‘completely unacceptable conditions’
The government has been condemned over a lack of urgency in response to the “degrading” conditions asylum seekers are being housed in.
Asylum seekers – including torture survivors, people with PTSD, and mothers with small children – are often being housed in damp and vermin-infested properties, the Home Affairs Committee has found.
In a report released today, the committee said the government failed to respond to previous recommendations set out in a similar report two years ago and said the government had done little to ensure contractual requirements are met.
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The criticism comes amid reports that the government has received few bids from private firms for new contracts to house asylum seekers, worth £4bn over 10 years.
Several local authorities have also recently said they are considering pulling out of the government’s asylum seeker housing scheme as a result of the problem the government is facing in finding providers.
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According to the report, the Home Office has failed to work in partnership with local authorities, some of whom carry a disproportionate share of the responsibility for housing asylum seekers.
Stuart McDonald, an SNP MP and a member of the Home Affairs Committee, said: “Two years on from the last Home Affairs report into asylum accommodation, there has been very little evidence of improvement. Local authorities have lost confidence in the system because the government has failed to listen and respond to their concerns.
“We must remember that this is fundamentally about providing safe accommodation to individuals fleeing desperate circumstances. On too many occasions the quality of housing provided has fallen far below what is acceptable. The new asylum accommodation contract must be the beginning of comprehensive reforms that bring an end to the constant examples of mouldy, damp, vermin-infested conditions that asylum seekers experience now.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The UK has a long history of granting asylum to those who need our protection and we are committed to providing safe and secure accommodation while applications are considered.
“We also monitor contractors and their accommodation closely and take action – including financial penalties – where issues are not addressed within certain timescales.
“We continue to work closely with local authorities on asylum dispersal and have committed to comprehensive engagement with the Local Government Association and local authority chief executives to review the process.”
