Rotherham Holiday Inn will no longer be used to house asylum seekers
The hotel in Manvers was at the centre of rioting in the town earlier this year
Rotherham Council’s leader and the area’s MP has welcomed the government’s announcement that a Manvers hotel will not be used to house asylum seekers in the future.
Home Office officials confirmed this week that the Holiday Inn at Manvers, which was the site of disorder in August, will not be used to house asylum seekers in the future.
John Healey, MP for MP for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough and defence secretary, confirmed that the Home Office will be terminating its contract to house asylum seekers at the hotel, which will ‘not be used for this purpose going forward’.
Mr Healey, who has opposed the use of the hotel since asylum seekers were first moved there in 2022 from the Ibis in Bramley, said: “I appreciate this has been a difficult period for people locally and I hope this latest announcement removes some uncertainty about the future.”
Councillor Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, stated: “We are pleased that the new government has reached the right decision and responded to the representations we have been making.
“For the last three years, and of course repeatedly since the terrible events back in August, we have been making the case against the use of the Holiday Inn Express for people seeking asylum.”
The decision comes after months of controversy surrounding the use of the hotel for asylum seekers, a practice Coun Read believes was detrimental to both the individuals involved and the local community.
“It was always the case that this hotel was the wrong place to put people for long periods of time – many of whom were literally fleeing for their lives,” he added.
“For too long under the last government that system was broken and run into the ground. It left thousands of people in limbo, living in hotels indefinitely, banned from working, separated from family and support networks, and with only a few pounds in their pockets.
“That’s no good for the people claiming asylum or often enough for the communities they’re abandoned into. None of which is any excuse for the kind of horrendous and inhuman violence we saw in Manvers in the summer.
“Neither the hotel staff, the neighbouring community or the asylum seekers themselves should ever have had to endure that. Those responsible for that violence brought shame on our community.
“In making this decision the government has thankfully recognised the problems with the hotel, and given assurance to neighbouring residents who have understandably been concerned that such trouble might be repeated again in the future.”