Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard has revealed that the Prime Minister has instructed Government departments to accelerate the timeline for closing all hotels currently housing migrants.
The minister disclosed during a GB News interview that whilst the Government had initially committed to ending hotel use by the end this Parliament, the Prime Minister now wants this deadline brought forward.
Mr Pollard said: “We've deployed military planning teams into Border Security Command and the Home Office to look at military and non-military sites about what would be suitable for the construction of temporary but adequate accommodation.
“That means we can move people from asylum hotels into those locations so we can close asylum hotels. The PM is absolutely clear.
Luke Pollard has revealed that the Prime Minister has instructed Government departments to accelerate the timeline for closing all hotels currently housing migrants.
|GB NEWS
"He said so directly to me in a meeting last week, as he did to the members of the Cabinet, that he wants to see every single asylum hotel closed.
“We've got a commitment to do that by the end of this Parliament.
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"He wants to bring that forward, and that means every Government department stepping up and doing their bit to support that effort.
“That's what the MoD is doing. We're looking at all our sites and other locations as well as to how we can use the expertise that the MoD has, those people that supported the Covid response, that help with emergencies such as flooding around the country.
"How we can support in this national effort to close asylum hotels and assist in the renewal of the asylum system that will see us process applications faster return people with no right to be in the UK, and slow the flow of those people crossing the Channel.”
Military planning teams have been integrated into Border Security Command and the Home Office to assess both military and civilian locations suitable for constructing temporary housing facilities.
The Armed Forces Minister confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is examining all its properties alongside other potential sites.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is preparing to announce detailed plans for relocating migrants from hotels to army barracks situated on decommissioned military installations.
The policy announcement is anticipated within the coming days as the Government intensifies efforts to address the accommodation crisis.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is preparing to announce detailed plans for relocating migrants from hotels
The initiative follows recent legal developments, including the Home Office's successful challenge to a High Court injunction that Epping Forest District Council had secured to prevent the Bell Hotel from accommodating migrants.
The council's subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court was dismissed without explanation.
The Government's accelerated closure programme forms part of a comprehensive overhaul of the asylum system.