Home Office halts plans to use Welsh Manor House to house migrants

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

A local Council has announced that the Home Office has halted plans to use manor house to house migrants seeking asylum.

The former 18-bed care home is subject to a planning application to turn it into a 28-bed house of multiple occupancy (HMO).

Just over a fortnight ago Wrexham County Borough Council revealed that it was one of two properties – the other being Plas yn Rhos – the Home Office and it’s appointed private sector contractor Clear Springs were looking to use to house migrants while they awaited the processing of their asylum claims.

Both proposals were met with strong opposition by local communities and last week the Home Office dropped it’s interest in Plas yn Rhos.

Today Wrexham Council has announced that the Home Office will no longer move forward with it’s plans to use Oak Alyn Hall.

A council spokesperson said: “Further to a previous statement issued in relation to the proposal by the Home Office’s accommodation provider to use Oak Alyn Hall, Gwersyllt, Wrexham, for asylum dispersal accommodation, we have been advised by the Home Office that the property will not be progressed for such use.”

Right decision

Leader of Wrexham Council, Councillor Mark Pritchard, said: “I would like to thank the Home Office for their response and I am glad that the right decision has been made and common sense has prevailed in this instance.”

Deputy Leader, Councillor Dave Bithell, said: “I hope this will reassure the residents of Gwersyllt and surrounding areas of a positive outcome to address their concerns.”

Lead Member for Partnerships and Community Safety, Councillor Paul Roberts, said: “I am pleased that the Home Office has again taken note of the opposition of Wrexham Council and residents, and stopped this process.”

Wrexham Council will go ahead with a special meeting this Friday calling on the UK government to ‘end the use of private sector agents in the asylum dispersal system and scrap profit-making arrangements that allows millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to be extracted from the system.’

“We are taking a stand on this because, for example, with the Plas yn Rhos situation, the Home Office gave our officers just five working days to respond to a consultation on asylum dispersal.

“We felt that was a totally inadequate consultation. To be fair to our officers, they did go back and the Home Office did extend the consultation for another few days so we could submit an official response.

“Following that response the Home Office rejected the proposal for Rhos.”

Compassionate balance

Cllr Bithell added that councillors were listening to the concerns of residents and communities and were trying to strike a compassionate balance.

“People are annoyed and the reality is we’re here to represent the views of the  people,” he said.

“There’s a couple of companies trying to buy up available accommodation at whatever cost it is, funded by the UK government. We don’t feel that’s appropriate.

“We think there’s a better way that it can be done. We’ve had really good interaction with the Government on some of the schemes like Ukraine, the Syrian refugees and the Afghan resettlement.

“We haven’t had any problems with any of those well documented, humanitarian schemes.

“On one hand we can deal with humanitarian crisis and on the other hand we can’t deal with asylum dispersal in a proper manner. I think the UK government need to get their act together in my view.

“We are a compassionate, humanitarian council just like other councils have been. We’ve got a good track record of supporting humanitarian issues.

“What we have to do as a local authority is try to engage in a measured way and be professional about it. Through political motions and lobbying groups hopefully the UK Government might come up with different schemes where this situation can be dealt with in a more sensitive manner.”