Martin Jones expresses concern scheme will increase pressure on probation service as Burnham addresses controversy over PC Harper’s killers The Home Office has announced that 13 hotels in England are no longer being used to house asylum seekers. They include the Grand Metropole Hotel, Blackpool. The government says this means 44 asylum hotels have closed so far this year. The number still being used is below 160, it says. For too long, communities have watched hotels at the centre of their towns and cities become symbols of a broken asylum system. We are turning that around by ending the use of asylum hotels for good and moving people into larger, basic accommodation like former military sites. Continue reading...