Fir Grove Hotel to become home for asylum seekers

The Home Office has leased the Fir Grove Hotel in Grappenhall to house families of asylum seekers for the next year, without any consultation with Warrington Borough Council.

Despite this lack of consultation and after taking legal advice, the Local Authority has put together a multi-disciplinary team to ensure that the families are given the support that they will need during their stay in Warrington.

As Borough Councillors for Grappenhall ward, we are working closely with the Local Authority team and visited the hotel twice over the weekend. We contacted Serco, who will be responsible for the care of the families staying there and sought assurance about the care of future residents. We are working with Serco staff who also want to ensure a strong two-way dialogue is developed with residents in the surrounding neighbourhood.

Helen says: Although the circumstances in the setting up of the hotel for asylum seekers were not ideal, it is a humanitarian situation that requires us all to pull together to ensure they are well treated while they are here. We recognise that some people want to make donations and suggest taking them to CARE UK Charity's Home Store at Cockhedge in the old TK Maxx store.

We have set up a meeting for residents at 7.30 pm on November 18th at Grappenhall Methodist Church and will be advertising this meeting through social media and leaflets to nearby houses.

Mark says: We will do our utmost to ensure that people locally are kept informed of what is happening at the hotel. We understand that unfortunately some of the staff have lost their jobs due to the changed circumstances, but we are pleased to hear that some have found new posts in the hospitality sector.

We now understand that the Minister for Immigration recognises that consultation with Local Authorities has been inadequate and that steps have been taken to correct this in the future.