Home Office ends migrant contract at Paddington House Hotel

The Home Office has confirmed that it is ending its contract with Paddington House Hotel.

The contract with the Manchester Road accommodation to house migrants that entered the UK illegally on small boats across the English Channel is up in May.

It has now been confirmed that the Government will not be renewing this contract, with the Home Office citing ‘progress’ on a ‘comprehensive plan to tackle illegal immigration’.

The news has been confirmed in a letter from the Home Office sent to Warrington Borough Council and seen by the Warrington Guardian.

This states: “The Home Office has always been clear that the use of hotels was a short-term measure, to ensure we meet our statutory obligation to accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute during a period of unprecedented numbers of small boat arrivals.

“Our comprehensive plan to tackle illegal immigration is making progress.

“Government action to crack down on evil criminal gangs, deter migrants from making dangerous crossings and our increased cooperation with our French counterparts, saw a reduction in small boat crossings by 36 per cent last year.

“We have also brought forward more appropriate forms of asylum accommodation, including large sites such as former military sites and barges.

“These reduce demand on an already pressured private rental market and provide capacity at scale, which enables the Home Office to be agile in responding to fluctuations in demand.

Paddington House Hotel will cease housing illegal migrants

“We have reformed estate management to maximise the occupancy of the existing contingency and dispersal estate, preventing an additional 72 hotels being opened and saving the taxpayer millions of pounds. This important work will continue.

“Having now closed 100 hotels, I am pleased that we are now able to go further, and I can therefore inform you that the Home Office is terminating the contract with OYO Paddington Hotel, on Manchester Road in Paddington, as asylum accommodation.

“I can confirm it will cease being used at the end of May 2024, reflecting the contractual notice period of this property.

“Residents currently accommodated in the hotel will be moving to other parts of our asylum estate, and we aim to complete all relocations in advance of the final closure date.

“Residents will be notified a minimum of five days in advance and moved by the Home Office in line with our existing contractual agreements.”

The Government confirmed in October last year that a first 50 hotels across the UK will stop housing immigrants by the end of January due to a reported drop in illegal channel crossings.

However, latest figures show the number of migrants that have arrived in the UK so far in 2024 after crossing the channel has reached a new record high for the first three months of a calendar year.

Two other hotels in the town are closed to the public to accommodate illegal migrants – Holiday Inn in Woolston and Fir Grove Hotel in Grappenhall.

Daresbury Park Hotel is also shut to the general public for the same reason, with Paddington House closing for migrant accommodation in late 2021.