Hillingdon Council have been calling on the Government for financial assistance to help manage the pressures caused by an increase in the number of migrants arriving into the UK, who are being pushed onto local authorities by the Home Office without support.
As the port authority for Heathrow Airport, Hillingdon has always been at the sharp end of asylum pressures. But this has increased significantly since Labour took office. After scrapping the Rwanda deterrent on day one, small boat crossings are up by 40% and these numbers are becoming more and more unsustainable for local authorities.
We keep hearing of faster processing and slashing asylum hotel bills from the Government, but the reality of this is an increase in Home Office evictions, resulting in an increase in people turning to local authorities for support, who are obligated to provide it. The cost is falling to council taxpayers and this is simply not fair.
Already we are seeing a £5million shortfall in Hillingdon because of this, more than the entire libraries and culture budget, but it is also a problem facing local authorities up and down the country. This has been a focus for the shadow levelling up team in Westminster, and this morning I invited Kevin Hollinrake, Shadow Secretary of State, alongside Cllr Steve Tuckwell, to the borough to see the impact first-hand.
The Mercure Hotel in Hayes has been used for a number of years to house asylum seekers. However, across the road at Manor Youth Football Club, some tents have also been set up. Here, we spoke to Ahmed from Sudan, as well as a number of residents from the hotel. All had arrived by boat.
My concern is what happens after decisions are granted, the cost on councils and therefore the council taxpayer. I will continue to raise this in Westminster and push the Government to help local authorities with the mess they have created.
You can watch the video of our visit to Hayes here.
