Crime commissioner and chief constable ask home secretary to stop Kettering migrant hotel plan
Crime commissioner and chief constable ask home secretary to stop Kettering migrant hotel plan
The chief constable has given 'harrowing information' to the Home Office
By Sarah Ward
The county’s chief constable and crime commissioner have thrown their weight behind objections to house asylum seekers in a Kettering town centre hotel.
Chief constable Nick Adderley and commissioner Stephen Mold have cited concerns about lack of biometric data for those who may be accommodated in the hotel and current crime levels in Kettering town centre in their appeal to the home secretary to look again at plans to use the central Royal Hotel in Sheep Street.
The Home Office is using the contractor SERCO to source and run the asylum contingency hotels, which it says are needed due to the rising numbers of people crossing the channel in boats and arriving in Kent.
Thousands of people have been held in a former airbase in Manston, Kent, with the government coming under widespread criticism for failing to move the migrants to appropriate accommodation and also for the length of time it is taking to process asylum applications. According to recent reports Manston is now empty with all migrants placed in accommodation.
Along with a number of other local authorities, North Northamptonshire Council (NNC), which is led by Conservative Jason Smithers, has objected to the contingency hotel plans. An injunction to try and stop the move was ruled out by the high court, however NN Journal understands the hotel has not as yet been used to accommodate refugees as planned.
Last Thursday Cllr Smithers wrote to Suella Braveman citing a number of reasons why the hotel was not a suitable location.
He said the injunction had been taken out as a way to force a ‘meaningful dialogue’ with the Home Office and the proposed Kettering accommodation was a ‘compromised solution’ which would affect the safety of the migrants, the local community and vulnerable people.
He also referenced concerns about the spread of disease from people coming from Manston, which had a confirmed outbreak of diphtheria. He did not mention financial factors, but like all councils NNC is currently facing budget pressures due to rising demand for care services, plus inflation and rising energy costs.
Cllr Smithers also mentioned a letter from crime commissioner Stephen Mold.
NN Journal has seen the letter and Commissioner Mold tells Braveman:
“I fully accept the need for displaced migrants to be placed across the country and for us all to play a part in supporting them while their individual cases are assessed. I also accept that while availability and cost will be factors which influence the accommodation provided, the safety of the local community and the additional pressures on the system that may result from inappropriate locations must also be taken into account.
“I am extremely concerned to learn that biometric data and any other information which would assist the police in safeguarding potentially vulnerable people in the community has not been forthcoming. This results in an unacceptable and unnecessary level of risk to the community. It also creates an additional burden on the force who are having to increase high visibility patrols in and around the locality of the migrant accommodation in order to provide assurance and prevent crime.”
The crime commissioner references a letter attached from the chief constable which he says includes ‘harrowing information’ which he hopes will ‘reinforce the immediate need to reassess the procedures and protocols currently in place’. He says he agrees with the chief constable that the current situation is ‘wholly unacceptable’.
NN Journal asked Northamptonshire Police for a copy of the letter or for a statement on the chief constable’s position, but we were told by the press office that it would not be making any comment.
The injunction had caused concern in the authority as some accused Cllr Smithers of failing to consult the wider council before using taxpayers money for legal proceedings. The leader has made suggestions he will take further legal action, but has not answered NN Journal’s questions on what they may be.
Leader of the Labour opposition at NNC Cllr John McGhee, agrees migrants should be accommodated in the area and supported by local authorities, but has concerns the government is using a private contractor to source the accommodation and managing its running without input from the local authority.
A Home Office spokesperson said:
“The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain.
“The use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable – there are currently more than 37,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £5.6million a day. The use of hotels is a short-term solution and we are working hard with local authorities to find appropriate accommodation.”
It is an interesting change of position for the Police and the Commissioner now to acknowledge something that they steadfastly denied for years earlier - that the centre of Kettering is a high crime area and that Police resources are insufficient to combat it adequately. This is something that we should be remembering, next time the Commissioner comes up for election. He is the one responsible for Police resourcing. He is also the one who spent years in the earlier part of his incumbancy trying to "dine out" on how low his precept was. While the precept isn't the only source of revenue for the Police, it is a major part, and the long history of keeping it low is a significant part of the resource shortage now.
As usual the so called "anti-racist" police and Criminal Commissioner show their hypocracy.
Without any evidence whatsoever they pander to popular prejudice (linking crime with asylum seekers and disease) whilst saying "I fully accept the need for displaced migrants to be placed across the country and for us all to play a part in supporting them while their individual cases are assessed." Just not in "our" backyard it seems, whilst doing absolutely nothing to suggest alternatives.
Where is the humanity? Where is the same outpouring of support and welcome that Ukrainian refugees got? Now we just just get racist, xenophobic, bile.