Mark Whitehead 22 June 2023

Manchester leaders call for urgent action on asylum seeker hotels

Manchester leaders call for urgent action on asylum seeker hotels image
Image: Dragon Claws/Shutterstock

Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, his deputy Kate Green and 10 council leaders are calling for urgent action to house asylum seekers and refugees who have been given notice to move out of hotels.

Four of the hotels are in the Greater Manchester region and residents have started receiving 90-day notices to leave.

Demands in a letter to home secretary Suella Braverman and levelling up secretary Michael Gove include a call for the notice period to be extended and a funding package for local authorities that can be spent flexibly across homelessness, language teaching, schools and integration and employment support.

They say: 'We are proud to welcome people seeking asylum and refugees to our city region, to celebrate all of our diverse communities and to work together to ensure that they can thrive.

'In Greater Manchester, we will continue to do so and we condemn recent divisive rhetoric which misrepresents international obligations to people seeking asylum and mischaracterises people seeking sanctuary on our shores because of how they arrive.'

The Government says it is committed to speeding up asylum processing, offering protection to those who need it and reducing costs to the public purse.

A spokesman said: 'We want to help rebuild lives here in the UK while ensuring local councils are supported to deliver different housing needs for people in the areas that they call home.

'That is why we are giving councils across Greater Manchester more than £23m over the next two years to prevent homelessness - this can be used to work with landlords to provide temporary accommodation or find new housing.'

SIGN UP
For your free daily news bulletin
Highways jobs

Senior/Principal Regeneration Officer

Fareham Borough Council
£45,465 - £55,379
Our town centre regeneration is moving from planning to delivery, and we're looking for someone who wants to help make regeneration happen. Fareham, Hampshire
Recuriter: Fareham Borough Council

Chief Executive

Cheshire East Council
Competitive Salary
You will lead an organisation with ambition, complexity and reach, while helping shape the future of a place Cheshire
Recuriter: Cheshire East Council

Director of Family Help & Children’s Social Care

Cheshire East Council
Up to £123,477
To help drive this vision forward, we’re seeking an exceptional Director of Family Help & Children’s Social Care. Cheshire
Recuriter: Cheshire East Council

Deputy Director Children’s Services (Director of Children’s Social Care)

Devon County Council
Competitive Salary
Reporting to the Director of Children’s Services, you will lead services across one of England Devon
Recuriter: Devon County Council

Director of Law & Corporate Governance (Monitoring Officer)

Northumberland County Council
£ 143,779 - £158,197
With the forthcoming retirement of our current postholder, we are seeking an outstanding leader Northumberland
Recuriter: Northumberland County Council
Linkedin Banner