The government has awarded a contract which allows for hotels and barges to house asylum seekers up until September 2027, despite Labour vowing to end the practice.
The wide ranging agreement - which covers transport, accommodation and venue bookings for the public sector - includes services for asylum seekers, released prisoners and rough sleepers.
The transparency document, seen by The Independent, says it includes the provision of commercial accommodation including hotels, serviced apartments, holiday parks, staff blocks, halls of residence, barges and cruise vessels.
The contract, advertised ahead of the election, was awarded by the Cabinet Office in October 2024 - just months after Labour won a historic landslide election victory promising to end the use of hotels and barges to house asylum seekers. The contract runs up until September 2027.
The agreement, known as a ‘call off contract’, is agreed in advance so that government bodies are able to purchase goods or services from a supplier under a pre-existing framework agreement, without needing to go through a full procurement process each time. The government said it has no intention of using the contract to keep hotels open.
A government source said of the contract: “We’re trying to cover every possible use that you can think of, even if there’s a 0.01 per cent chance of it being used... You’d rather have it in there than not. No one has a crystal ball. In extreme cases it may be needed from a procurement perspective.”
The Green Party urged the government to confirm that they would not restore the “inhumane use of barges to house people seeking asylum”.
“The last government’s cruel, dangerous use of the Bibby Stockholm barge to house people seeking asylum was failure of government policy but also a failure of humanity”, the party’s co-leader, Carla Denyer, told The Independent.
“Those who were forced to live on the barge were exposed to disease, bedbugs and flooding, and given inedible, sometimes rancid food. One person tragically died on board the boat, having been moved there against his will.
“The home secretary must confirm that this government will not restore the inhumane use of barges to house people seeking asylum.
“Instead, this government should take urgent action to fix our broken asylum system by introducing safe routes for people fleeing war, persecution and danger abroad to seek safety in the UK.”
Meanwhile, Steve Smith, CEO of the charity Care4Calais said: “Whilst private companies continue to make massive profits, people seeking asylum are being accommodated in former military camps and mould infested properties.
“The UK’s for-profit asylum accommodation model is broken. It’s time the government moved to a new system that places the needs of people before shareholder profits.”
The Conservatives also criticised the government over the contract, accusing the Labour Party of “taking the British people for a ride”.
“They promised to end hotel accommodation for illegal immigrants but have seen it balloon”, shadow home secretary Chris Philp told The Independent.
“Labour’s claims to smash the gangs are in tatters. This has been the worst ever year so far for illegal immigrants crossing the channel. That is why illegal immigrants being accommodated in asylum hotels are going up.”
Last month, Home Office figures revealed that the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels has increased by more than 8,000 since the general election, with 38,079 migrants being housed in asylum hotels at the end of December.
However, the number of hotels being used to house asylum seekers has declined. At its peak, under the previous government, over 400 hotels were in use. Now just over half of those are in use.
Some 6,796 people have made the dangerous journey to the UK after crossing the English Channel so far this year, according to latest Home Office figures. This is 25 per cent up from the same point last year (5,435) and a 49 per cent increase on 2023 (4,563).
Ahead of the election, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper vowed to end the use of asylum hotels, saying: "Tory chaos at our borders and in the asylum system is costing taxpayers billions and must come to an end. All we have had from this government is gimmicks not grip.
"Labour has a serious plan to end the government's wasteful spending on hotels and return people who have no right to be here."
A government spokesperson said: "This is highly misleading – the contract is for travel, transport, accommodation and venue services across the public sector and we have no intention of using it to keep hotels open.
“We are already closing asylum hotels and with further closures in the coming weeks will reduce taxpayer costs and give control back to local communities. We are also reviewing all contracts across the asylum estate inherited from the previous government and taking action where necessary.”
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