Council calls on Home Secretary to shut two asylum centres
Council demands action over asylum accommodation concerns
Councillors have voted in favour of a motion calling on the government to “immediately close” two asylum seeker centres.
Wakefield Council leader Karl Johnson called for the urgent debate at a meeting on Wednesday, saying “serious criminal allegations” had “generated significant concern regarding public and community safety.”
Members of the Reform group unanimously voted in favour of the motion, which urged Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to shut down Urban House and Cedar Court Hotel as asylum accommodation sites.
The motion also called for the council’s chief executive, Tony Reeves, to provide regular reports to councillors on the “number, location and type” of asylum accommodation within the district, along with “any associated impacts on local communities and local public services.”
The motion also stated: “Wakefield district should not be treated as a dumping ground for the consequences of failures in national immigration and asylum policy.”
Reform requested the urgent debate on the day of the full council meeting, saying “further serious developments” had entered the public domain.
At the start of the 50-minute debate, Mayor of Wakefield Brian Moorhouse reminded councillors of their responsibilities under the Contempt of Court Act 1981.
He said: “Care should be taken when referring to incidents that are the subject of ongoing criminal investigations or active criminal proceedings.”