I was never consulted in advance about this development in my then role of Chair of Parish Council: not by the Home Office, East Midlands Councils or any other agency. I helped draft the initial Parish response to the Immigration Minister. The final letter below from the Home Office gives the contrect end date as July 2024

I wrote to Robert Jenrick, the then Immigration Minister, on November 21st

Dear Minister

This is a personal letter based on a review of correspondence and the continuing existence of this facility after nine months. It does not reflect the views of a particular local Council.

I was Chair of Kegworth Parish Council at the time Yew Lodge contract was signed on Feb 20th and currently I am Vice Chair. On May 4th I was elected District Councillor for that part of Kegworth (population 4200) in which the hotel is located (c. 220 male migrants), being under half a mile from the village centre, schools and other amenities. When I wrote to you on Feb 19th I described your choice of Kegworth Yew Lodge Hotel as ‘disproportionate’ and that is still apt.

Local councillors, like myself, who are actually based here in Kegworth have been treated with contempt by all higher authorities throughout the period of the hotel’s selection, its ‘stand up’ and since. We have been, and still are, expected to glean whatever operational and strategic information we can from the news, from hearsay, maybe even from better informed volunteers, and by begging answers from a position of ignorance. The protest, held both outside and inside the Parish Council meeting of Mar 6th, was truly horrific. The meeting itself may still be available on YouTube. The Police and other authorities chose to by-pass the Parish and organise a meeting for protestors on Mar 30th during the pre-election period to give them information that we ourselves did not have.

Yet we are the ones who face residents. There has been no voluntary consultation with local representatives at any stage. Typically we have had late, incomplete and inadequate responses when we have gone cap in hand randomly to a variety of agencies and individuals who do not live here. That includes yourself (sent Feb 19th), the Home Office (sent Mar 22nd replies April 4th and, finally, July 25 via the MP), the Police, East Midlands Councils, an unelected body with a key role it seems, Serco, Andrew Bridgen MP, and the higher tier local authorities (who were ‘informed’ we hear on Feb 7th but wrote to you officially only on Feb 23rd). In short, ‘the system’ has proved evasive and unaccountable. It appears to me that this community was a convenient political target, via a hotel owned by a recorded Conservative donor, Conservative local Councils, and an MP newly expelled from the Conservative Party.

I would urge an early ‘stand down’ date for Yew Lodge Hotel regardless of the owner’s wishes. The pride I now have in fellow Kegworthians who have been welcoming more than their fair share of migrants is matched only by my dismay about the secrecy, distrust and deep divisions that have been visited on this community by an owner who built up his business using local trade, talent and supply chains, and by the current government. Myself and colleagues still bear the bruises: I do meet, and I know personally, some of the asylum seekers. However, I am still distrusted equally, both by some volunteers who have an inside track to Serco and the hotel, and by many of those I represent who resent the cost and doubt the value of your government’s policy and its impact on communities like ours.

The residents of Kegworth were also the victims of boundary issues, being located in a different Home Office/Serco subregion from Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire/Erewash, just 6 miles North up the M1, where, we hear, two asylum hotels are to be ‘stood down’ soon. Conversely, no consideration was given when this relatively isolated village, far distant from administrative centres in Leicester and Coalville, became a convenient statistic at the northern tip of the large county of Leiccestershire. Yew Lodge was added to the concentration of asylum accommodation in Loughborough, just 6 miles South while a hotel in the village of Quorn was not deployed following the MP’s intervention. There seems no rhyme or reason: the arguments deployed at Stradey Park Hotel, Llanelli could have been put successfully in Kegworth but they weren’t and we have been badly let down.

I believe it was a quirk of the boundaries too, and concern only with broad-brush regional data, that led to a ‘counties’ debate about whether and whiich Nottinghamshire NHS Trust should be responsible for asylum seeker healthcare in the crucial fortnight of Feb 7th-20th. At the same time, no attention was being given by anybody, perhaps deliberately, to the involvement of the Kegworth Parish Council, “a structure for taking community action”. It remains a mystery as to why both “the relevant Local Authority and the Member of Parliament” remained silent and officially detached from the Parish at that stage. I note that “the responsibility for engagement with the local levels of government such as parish councils will fall to the local authority”. [all quotes in this paragraph are taken directly from the Home Office Asylum Accommodation MP Engagement Team email dated July 25th]

I note the similarities between the story of Yew Lodge Kegworth 2023 and what is going on right now in Portland. https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2023-11-19/fed-up-frustrated-and-angry-protests-held-to-oppose-bibby-stockholm-barge. “Fed up, frustrated and angry” is a suitable headline for both places.

I note also the latest example of Home Office led indifference to what goes on in local communities at a practical level. I speak of the response, via East Midlands Councils, to a parish plea about increased maintenance costs in our only public park due to daily Yew Lodge resident use of a football pitch for many months (Sept21st). The lack of ‘things to do’ and opportunities for 220 single men in Kegworth was always and still remains an issue while Yew Lodge Asylum Hotel remains operational.

I should be pleased to meet with you or your officials to discuss the implications of this letter on behalf of the residents I represent, including those at Yew Lodge Hotel. A phased ‘stand down’ on humanitarian grounds is the way forward.
I look forward to hearing from you.

With Good wishes
Cllr Ray Sutton (Independent)
Kegworth ward
07952 488990

This reply was received on December 8th

At my request, the matter is now to be taken up directly with the Home Office by a NW Leicestershire officer in a scheduled meeting

Direct Communications Unit
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
Tel: 020 7035 4848
www.homeoffice.gov.uk

Councillor Ray Sutton ray.sutton@nwleicestershire.gov.uk
DECS Reference: TRO/1049157/23

08 December 2023

Dear Councillor Ray Sutton,

Thank you for your letter of 21 November 2023 about hotel closures. Your letter has been passed to Asylum Support, Resettlement and Accommodation at the Home Office for a reply:

The Home Office has always been clear the use of hotels is a short-term measure to ensure that we meet our statutory obligation to accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute during a period of unprecedented numbers of small boat arrivals.
The volume of illegal small boat arrivals has simply overwhelmed our asylum system, placing the Home Office’s asylum support infrastructure and accommodation services under immense pressure. Aside from the huge cost to the British taxpayer and every crossing attempt being a potential tragedy, the immense pressure these arrivals place on our system diverts our finite resources away from those in genuine need.

The Home Office is committed to making every effort to reduce hotel use and limit the burden on the taxpayer. This is why we are delivering a range of alternative accommodation sites, maximising hotel space, operationalising the Illegal Migration Act and continuing our hard work to clear the asylum backlog by the end of the year.

Our comprehensive plan to tackle illegal migration is making progress. For the first time since the phenomenon of small boats began four years ago, arrivals are down by more than 20 per cent compared with the equivalent period of 2022 despite increases in arrivals in Europe of 100 per cent in some countries.

We will be transferring asylum seekers out of over 50 Asylum Hotels by the end of January 2024. For the safety, security, and wellbeing of those we accommodate, we do not publicly comment on individual hotels which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office.

The Home Office will 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. As confirmed by the immigration minister on 24 October 2023, the first 50 hotels across the UK will stop housing asylum seekers by the end of January, as a result of a more than 20% drop in small boat crossings compared to last year.
The Home Office has already notified local authorities, MPs and the accommodation providers informing them that the first 50 hotels temporarily accommodating asylum seekers will be exited as part of the move to return hotels to their proper use by communities.

These initial hotels have been chosen based on a wide criteria: ease of a potential exit, taking into consideration the operational difficulties of relocating certain cohorts and sizes; speed of a potential exit, taking into account that each hotel has a different length notice period; the appropriateness of the location, taking into account the specific challenges present in more rural location. This first tranche of exits includes hotels across the UK.

The announcement on exiting hotels is just one part of the government’s wider efforts to tackle illegal migration. As we continue to deliver on our comprehensive ten-point plan to stop the illegal, dangerous and unnecessary small boat crossings we will be able to exit more asylum hotels. We keep our accommodation estate under constant review and will close additional hotels whenever possible.

Regarding your request for a meeting, unfortunately we are unable to offer you an opportunity to meet with Home Office officials. Instead, we would recommend raising all concerns with local authority partners, who will be able to discuss these issues with the Home Office as part of the regular Multi Agency Forum (MAF) meetings.

The Home Office recognises the strain that local authorities, like Kegworth Parish Council, are facing at this time and the challenges that using this hotel brings. We are committed to continue working with local authorities through our multi-agency meetings to ensure the sites are successfully managed and the impact on the local communities is minimised.

I trust this response has gone some way to alleviate your concerns.

Yours sincerely,
B Adair
ASRA Briefing and Correspondence Team
Asylum Support, Resettlement and Accommodation (ASRA)

I enquired further about communication and the hotel contract via a NWLDC Strategic Director who deals with the Home Office and East Midlands Councils (EMC). I received this reply on January 22nd:-

Dear Cllr Sutton

I now have the ‘official’ answer to your queries – I’ve no doubt not what you were wishing for, however not from experience unexpected .

1. SERCO - We wouldn't look to divulge contractual information between ourselves and the hotel provider. It is worth noting that a contract end date is not solely indicative that a hotel will be shut down as there are multiple factors that are being considered as part of the attempt to move away from the use of contingency sites, to which I refer you to the below two links;
   Exit from asylum hotels shows progress on illegal migration - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
   Asylum hotel summary and FAQ - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
   
   Recent notifications have been communicated to local authorities for whom hotels are being stood down in their area, at this stage, the Yew Lodge is not one of them. 
2. H.O - MP engagement sessions are welcomed and can be raised through ASRA-briefingcorrespondence@homeoffice.gov.uk along with any concerns/issues they wish to raise .

Unfortunately, engagement sessions would not extend to a group of representatives from the locality. When we set up/close/ hotels we routinely inform stakeholders, such as MPs/LA CEX/statutory partners/SMPs etc. However, we don’t inform councillors who are elected representatives to address issues raised by members in their local ward/division for their community. They are paid an allowance and affiliated to a political party, therefore we would suggest that if they wished to submit a written request to ASRA B&C if they have any concerns/issues they want to raise.

As a result of a further resident enquiry, Andrew Bridgen MP forwarded to us this further statement on February 7th:-

Hotel closures are being phased on a monthly basis and timings will be informed by operational requirements and contractual notice periods. The Home Office remains committed to working with local partners and will inform you when a site is identified as suitable for exit. Regarding the queries raised by your constituent, as you will be aware for the safety and security of those we accommodate we do not publicly comment about, or confirm or deny if we are using specific sites. For you own purposes we confirmed to you last week that the Home Office are looking to renew the hotel contract on a 12 month rolling basis with a 3 month break clause to allow for early exit. In addition, the maximum occupancy capacity for Yew Lodge Hotel is 220. We do not publish details of asylum seekers who have left our accommodation. The ownership for the hotel has not changed.

The final Hone Office update was received via both the District Council and the MP on March 28th 2024 as follows:-

"The Home Office has always been clear that the use of hotels was a short-term measure to ensure we meet our statutory obligation to accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute during a period of unprecedented numbers of small boat arrivals. 

Our comprehensive plan to tackle illegal immigration is making progress. Government action to crack down on evil criminal gangs, deter migrants from making dangerous crossings and our increased cooperation with our French counterparts, saw a reduction in small boat crossings by 36% last year.

We have also brought forward more appropriate forms of asylum accommodation, including large sites, such as former military sites and barges, which reduce demand on an already pressured private rental market and provide capacity at scale, which enables the Home Office to be agile in responding to fluctuations in demand. We have reformed estate management to maximise the occupancy of the existing contingency and dispersal estate, preventing an additional 72 hotels being opened and saving the taxpayer millions of pounds. This important work will continue.

Having now closed 100 hotels, I am pleased that we are now able to go further and I can therefore inform you that the Home Office is terminating the contract with Best Western Premier Yew Lodge, 33 Packington Hill, Kegworth DE74 2DF, as asylum accommodation and confirm it will cease being used before the beginning of July 2024, reflecting the contractual notice period of this property. Residents currently accommodated in the hotel will be moving to other parts of our asylum estate and we aim to complete all relocations in advance of the final closure date. Residents will be notified a minimum of 5 days in advance and moved by the Home Office in line with our existing contractual agreements.

If you have any further questions, please do discuss this at your next multi-agency forum, or email Service Delivery Support & Relationship Management at ASContractSupportTeam@homeoffice.gov.uk."