Over recent weeks, I have been in contact with the Home Office to raise strong local concerns about the increasing number of asylum seekers being housed by the Government in HMOs across Grantham.
I have been clear from the outset that the overwhelming majority of people in our area did not vote for, and do not support, asylum seekers who entered the country illegally being accommodated within our community. At the last election, I was re-elected on a manifesto committed to implementing a strong deterrent to stop illegal immigration.
I also raised concerns with the Home Office that, rather than dispersing asylum accommodation evenly as intended, Serco appeared to be disproportionately concentrating properties in Grantham. This is unfair on residents in the town and surrounding villages, as well as on local services, which are being expected to carry a far greater burden than many other parts of the country.
Following the concerns I raised on behalf of our community, I am pleased to confirm that the Minister has instructed Serco to immediately halt all procurement of dispersed asylum accommodation in Grantham.
Serco has also been told to stand down all pipeline properties in Grantham, and no further procurement will take place in the town. The Minister has additionally assured me that, where properties are procured elsewhere in our corner of Lincolnshire in future, local councils will be consulted before any individual property is brought into use.
This is a positive outcome for our area. However, I will continue pressing the Government to do more to tackle illegal immigration, because that is ultimately the only way to reduce the pressure being placed on communities such as ours.
