From one failure to another: The never ending cycle of asylum accommodation

The Government has announced it is terminating its contract with Stay Belvedere Hotels (SBHL), which manages 51 hotels housing asylum seekers, due to performance concerns. However, rather than implementing real change, the government has handed the contract to the firm responsible for managing the Bibby Stockholm barge - an accommodation site so inadequate and unsafe that it has now been closed.

Bibby Stockholm was widely condemned for its appalling conditions, including serious fire safety risks, poor food provision, and an outbreak of deadly bacteria in the water supply. There were multiple mental health crises among those housed on the barge, including a tragic suspected suicide. Its closure was an admission of failure - yet instead of learning from this, the government is now entrusting the same company with managing asylum accommodation in replacement of SBHL.

At the start of the year, we delivered a petition to No. 10 Downing Street and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, calling for an end to the use of hotels as asylum accommodation. With over 500 signatures, our message was clear: the current system is failing people in need, and urgent change is required. This is not the change our supporters called for!

Handing over contracts from SBHL to another private contractor does not amount to meaningful reform.

The government must stop relying on for-profit companies to provide accommodation and properly fund and support local authorities to house people in our communities. The billions of pounds should be spent on protecting refugees and strengthening public services for everyone, rather than funneling it into failing private contracts.
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The government needs to move beyond short term fixes, and start delivering real solutions. Asylum seekers deserve safe, dignified housing - not a never-ending cycle of failed providers and broken promises.