Labour U-turns over plan to procure more asylum seeker accommodation

TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say He added that the number of spots asylum dispersal places had not increased.The Local Democracy Reporting Service has seen a letter where Mr Norris apologised for lifting the pause.The Immigration Minister said: Following your engagement, I have asked the Home Office to pause any further additions to this pipeline until we can discuss this further.He said no asylum seekers were currently placed in council homes, which are reserved for County Durham residents.There are a number of potential pipeline properties maintained by the Governemnt where asylum seekers could be placed, Mr Norris said.Mr Norris continued: As sometimes happens, some properties in use are deemed unsuitable and need to be replaced through this pipelineHe said changes reflected that some properties became unsuitable.Labour MP for Bishop Auckland Sam Rushworth said there was no plan to increase the number of asylum-seekers in Durham.LATEST ON THE MIGRANT CRISIS:Britain set to hand over £450 MILLION to France for more beach patrols and new migrant centrePlans to convert university student flats into asylum seeker hostel BLOCKED by councilNumber of asylum seekers in taxpayer-funded accommodation for over a year surges by nearly halfThe new asylum-seeker accommodation pause came after Government contractor Mears said it would not buy homes for three months in June 2025.At the time the Home Office felt it had sufficient capacity in Durham, while Mears said the pause allowed local stakeholders to further engage with the process.Durham County Council's Darren Grimes in June said Mears were hoovering up properties in the region.And Reform UK councillor said there the area was already stretched to a breaking point.At the time, Reform UK had hoped the pause by Mears would lead to a permanent freeze.In February 2026, Reform announced the full scale version of its plan, announcing a British version of the US's Immigration Customs and Enforcements agency (Ice) to deport thousands.It announced plans to abolish Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), a policy which some have accused Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood replicating by introducing a policy to reduce the practice.But Sir Keir Starmer is set to water down the policy and scrap the plans to double the time required for migrants on visas to qualify for indefinite leave to remain. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter