Ministers expected to cut number of hotels used to house asylum seekers

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick is set to confirm contracts are set to be terminated.

Some migrants have moved back to the Bibby Stockholm barge (PA) (PA Wire)

Plans to cut the number of hotels used to house migrants by January are expected to be announced on Tuesday.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick is set to confirm some contracts will be terminated to reduce the £8 million-a-day cost of using the accommodation.

He is expected to announce plans to end the use of 50 hotels early next year in a Commons statement on Tuesday.

In March, the Government introduced plans to house asylum seekers on disused military bases and barges in a bid to cut spending on hotels.

That month, around 47,500 people were using hotel accommodation, according to the House of Commons Library.

Some migrants have been moved back on to the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, Dorset, after the discovery of Legionella bacteria in its water supply led to an evacuation in August.

Another Government plan announced in April 2022, under which some asylum seekers would be sent to Rwanda, is currently held up in the courts, with a deportation flight yet to take off.