A hotel chain that provides accommodation for asylum seekers has had its contract terminated by the Home Office amid concerns about its behaviour and poor performance
Stay Belvedere Hotels (SBHL) houses people waiting for decisions on whether they can stay in Britain across 51 venues in England and Wales, as well as the Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, which is due to close and be returned to the Ministry of Defence in September.
But it has been stripped of its contract and is will reportedly be replaced by the Australian-based Corporate Travel Management (CTM) - the firm which was criticised for its running of the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, south Dorset.
It comes as the number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel in small boats hit a record high in the first three months of the year.
Between January 1 and March 23, some 5,847 people arrived in the UK from France - up 36 per cent on last year. In the last five days alone more than 1,400 migrants have made the perilous crossing.
SBHL’s contract, which was awarded in 2019, will end at the earliest opportunity in September 2026 after a review of all contracts to provide asylum accommodation, the Home Office said in a statement.
A review raised concerns about the company's performance and behaviour, according to the statement, which said the safety and security of people staying and working in temporary accommodation was a Government priority, as well as ensuring value for money.
There were 38,079 people being accommodated in hotels by the Home Office at the end of 2024, figures show
Minister for border security and asylum Angela Eagle said: "Since July, we have improved contract management and added more oversight of our suppliers of asylum accommodation.
"We have made the decision to remove Stay Belvedere Hotels from the Home Office supply chain and will not hesitate to take further action to ensure Home Office contracts deliver for the UK."
The housing minister on Tuesday said he would not provide "the specifics" of why the Home Office cancelled the company's contract to provide accommodation for asylum seekers but that "operational details are being worked out".
Matthew Pennycook told Times Radio: "I'm not going into the specifics of the decision that the Home Office ministers have made."
Asked whether the Government would get money back if the company had failed in its duty, he said: "The whole purpose of reviewing asylum contracts is to improve the management of them to guarantee value for money for the taxpayer... the operational details are being worked out.
"I'll leave it to Home Office ministers to come back with the finer points of detail on the decision they've made, but work is underway to ensure the asylum services continue to operate as normal, to deal with the management problems."
He added: "We did need to review these disastrous contracts on asylum accommodation we inherited. We're doing so to improve management and guarantee value for money for the taxpayer."
The Home Office, which is committed to ending the use of asylum hotels, said it was working to "put robust plans in place" to minimise disruption.
