Asylum seekers to be sent to rural areas for fairer distribution of migrants

“When is the minister going to tell Serco Stoke-on-Trent has done its bit and to no more use it? Robert Jenrick, the Immigration Minister replied: “We are also attempting to procure accommodation in a much broader range of local authorities than has been seen in the past. “That does mean I am afraid that as long as numbers are so high that more parts of the country experience this issue, but it does ensure greater fairness as to how, as a country, we tackle it.” Mr Jenrick is due to meet the private contractors who secure the accommodation next week to ensure they take more account of where migrants are placed, and that with the Home Office they give notice to MPs and local councils before selecting hotels. Ministers are working on a new system that reveals where migrants are being placed in real time, how long they have been there, who they are and their needs in order to avoid asylum seekers being placed in unsuitable accommodation. Mr Jenrick told MPs there had been a “failure to plan” in the months before the recent sudden surge in Channel migrants but said he had introduced new protocols to ensure MPs and councils were consulted and engaged before any migrants were moved into hotels or other accommodation in their areas.