Home Office has ended contract with Hove hotel where unaccompanied asylum-seeking children went missing, city council reveals

Brighton & Hove City Council has announced that the Home Office is ending its contract with a hotel in Hove where unaccompanied asylum-seeking (UAS) children went missing.

The council launched legal action against the Government in June after the Home Office planned to reopen the hotel despite 50 children “still [being] unaccounted for”.

Cllr Bella Sankey, Leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, posted on X, formally Twitter: “The Home Office contract with a Hove hotel to accommodate unaccompanied children seeking asylum will end on Thursday [30 November]. 

“This is a major milestone for our Council & for our City.”

Earlier this week (28 November), Brighton and Hove City Council supported Kent County Council in a claim for judicial review regarding the operation of the National Transfer Scheme (NTS).

Although Kent failed on most grounds argued, it said the court found that the NTS and its management were “inadequate and for large periods was unlawful” and that the Home Office must resolve this and ensure that it works fairly and sustainably.

The NTS was designed to enable UAS children to be cared for by local authorities throughout the country once Kent has reached its capacity.

The High Court ruled that the Home Office action in relation to UAS children was unlawful when it chose to place them in hotels rather than into local authority care through the statutory NTS, Brighton revealed.

The council added that it provided evidence in the claim which demonstrated that the funding local authorities currently receive for UAS children is “inadequate” and “relies on local authorities making up the deficit of what is needed from their already overstretched council budgets”.

Cllr Sankey said: “These judgments from the High Court bring this miserable chapter in the treatment of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to an end, locally and nationally.

“I am relieved that as a result of these judgments the Secretary of State can no longer resort to the routine use of hotels for unaccompanied children.

“I’m proud that Brighton and Hove City Council brought this ground-breaking legal case and has continued to hold the Home Office to account.”

The Home Office has been approached for comment.

Lottie Winson