Welsh council demands Home Office pay £230k costs of handling asylum seeker hotel dispute
Carmarthenshire County Council has called on the Home Office to reimburse almost £230,000 in costs it incurred due to the Government department's now-scuppered plans to move asylum seekers into a local hotel.
The dispute revolved around the Home Office's desire to use Stradey Park Hotel, Llanelli, for asylum seeker accommodation and saw the council apply for an interim injunction to block the plans.
The High Court ultimately refused the interim injunction application, and the council later abandoned efforts to secure a permanent injunction.
However, in October of this year, the Home Office announced it would not use the hotel.
In a council meeting last week (8 November), Carmathenshire's leader, Cllr Darren Price, said officers spent more than 2,700 hours dealing with the “fiasco”.
He said: "In addition, we have also lost income due to the cancelled marriage ceremonies and the resulting loss of income to registrars, for example.
"This comes at a time of significant budget strain, as we have heard earlier this morning, and officers have been pulled away from their primary duties in order to deal with this mess."
It is estimated the council needs to make up to £12m in savings for the coming year as a result of higher than anticipated pay settlements, the living wage increase and the "soaring" cost of children's services, adult social care and education, according to the cabinet member for resources, Cllr Alun Lenny.
Cllr Price said he believes there is a "duty" on the Government to reimburse the council for the costs of the Home Office's proposal.
In a letter sent to the council last week, the Government said it was "committed to work with partners on a lessons learned exercise" facilitated by the Wales Strategic Migration Partnership.
Cllr Price also called for the Welsh Government and Welsh local government to have a role in developing an 'all-Wales' approach to deciding on emergency asylum seeker accommodation.
The Home Office is also facing calls for reimbursement from the Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn, who estimates that the cost of the police response to the local unrest and protests at Stradey Park was in excess of £300,000.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are aware of the strong concerns from the local community as a result of the now withdrawn Stradey Park proposal.
“The Home Office has a legal obligation to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.”
Adam Carey
