Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 11:35 am on 8 November 2023.
Kevin Foster
Conservative, Torbay
11:35,
8 November 2023
As the Minister will know, it was my pleasure to work on the removals around Operation Pitting with colleagues from the Ministry of Defence and the FCDO. I welcome the steps that the Minister has taken to finally move many of those people out of hotels. It is no secret that, back in late 2021, I expressed concerns about just putting people into hotels and hoping offers of accommodation would come forward. Anyone with any knowledge of housing supply knew that the size of the families involved meant that would take some time, so I congratulate him on what he did this summer. Will he reassure me that we are thinking through what would be suitable family accommodation for the people we are bringing into this country, and that we will not just be sticking people in hotels intended for businessmen to stay in for a couple of nights rather than for families to live in for months? What type of accommodation does he have in mind for this cohort?
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