In recent weeks, constituents have brought to Julia Lopez MP's attention rumours circulating on social media that preparations may be being made for the Palms Hotel site to be used as asylum accommodation.

Since receiving these reports, Mrs Lopez has been engaging with the Home Office to confirm their veracity whilst updating those who had contacted her on this issue. Today, the Hornchurch & Upminster MP received written confirmation of what had previously been verbally confirmed with her office - the Home Office is not procuring new asylum hotels and there are no plans to use the Palms Hotel to house asylum seekers. A copy of the response that Mrs Lopez received from the Minister for Legal Migration and the Border, Tom Pursglove MP, can be accessed below this article.

Copies of the earlier updates that Julia Lopez MP issued to constituents are provided below:

SENT ON MONDAY 22 January
 
Thank you for your email about the Palms Hotel on the A127.
 
I was concerned to hear the rumour that is circulating about the potential use of the hotel as asylum accommodation and appreciate you letting me know that it is being discussed on the local County Park WhatsApp group. While I completely appreciate the worry this might cause everyone, it is not a rumour that I had heard until I received a handful of emails from residents today. Neither the owners of the site, Home Office nor council have alerted me to plans that the site is being considered in this way. I have now made enquiries with officials to see if I can find out any more or better understand why this rumour might have been sparked.
 
As you will likely know, the site was previously considered for use in the summer of 2020. At that time, I had calls with the Home Secretary’s Special Adviser and Immigration Minister on behalf of residents after which the Home Office contractor, ClearSpring Ready Homes, terminated its contract with Palms. The Palms site had been considered for asylum accommodation only as a strictly temporary measure to deal with issues that arose as a result of the covid crisis, when people were not being moved out of asylum accommodation as quickly after lockdown.
 
The site was considered once more a little down the line, and again I quickly worked to set out to the Home Office why the hotel was not fit for that purpose. The plans were subsequently shelved after building safety concerns were identified in due diligence checks - as you mention, the London Fire Brigade had particular concerns. My work on this was covered at the time by the Romford Recorder but if of interest, I posted the articles below on my website.
 
https://www.julialopez.co.uk/news/home-office-plans-palms-hotel-site-a127   
https://www.julialopez.co.uk/news/update-use-palms-hotel-a127   
 
It may be reassuring to know that, since those two episodes a few years ago, the Home Office have changed procedures for notifying MPs that any hotel accommodation within their constituency is being considered for use as asylum accommodation. This included a commitment to providing MPs with prior notice before any asylum seekers were accommodated. As I say, I have not received any communication at all to state that Palms is being considered but I have made enquiries on residents' behalf to verify this.
 
With best wishes,
Julia
 
SENT ON FRIDAY 2 FEBRUARY
 
We were in touch last week after several residents contacted me about Palms Hotel on the A127, and whether it was being prepared as asylum accommodation. I had committed to trying to find out more and am now in a position to be able to give residents an update. 
 
The team and I remain unsure what initially sparked residents’ concern. However, I drove past Palms today and saw roofing works underway, and we have received some screenshots of messages where concerned residents seem to be worried that perhaps people are being decanted from the Romford Ibis to Palms. I am as confident as I can be that that is not the case.
 
As I mentioned in my last email, when Palms was first suggested as asylum accommodation a few years ago, my team and I had worked carefully to set out to the Home Office why we thought the site was unsuitable. This led to Palms being discounted as an option due to fire safety after its brief use during the pandemic. Since that time, the Home Office has changed the way it deals with cases like this such that MPs are meant to be notified if they have plans to use a hotel in their constituency for the purpose of asylum accommodation. I had not heard anything from the Home Office so we have been in touch with them proactively to ask about Palms following everyone’s emails. 
 
They have reiterated that while they have a duty to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and subsistence support while asylum applications are under consideration, they have ‘always been clear that use of hotels as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers was a short-term measure to ensure that they met the statutory obligation to accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute during a period of unprecedented numbers of small boat arrivals. The Government has always been clear that they are an inappropriate form of accommodation and that we must stop using them as soon as possible.
 
They go on to say that ‘We are currently taking a range of steps to reduce our dependency on hotels to support those already in the asylum system. We are in the process of exiting Hotels and are not seeking to procure any new hotels.’

We have asked a few further questions to make sure that Palms is not being turned into a different type of accommodation for the same purpose, and have been given reassurances that this site is not being considered.
 
Finally, a few residents have suggested that some trees around the hotel have been taken down. There is an area around the hotel, on its north-west corner, that is subject to a Tree Preservation Order, see here. Please do let me know if you are aware that any trees in this location have been felled and I will be sure to bring this to Havering Council’s attention. You may also want to contact your councillors about this and they might be able to make enquiries with Havering’s planning department too as to whether any planning or change of use applications have gone in for the Palms site. 
 
Thank you again for dropping me a line and I hope that you feel reassured. While I am confident Palms is not in the Home Office’s plans, we will continue to keep an ear out for any further information on what is going on with the site.
 
With best wishes,
Julia

SENT ON FRIDAY 8 FEBRUARY
I wrote to you last Friday to update you of the comments I received from the Home Office in connection to the rumour that it was being prepared as asylum accommodation.

Within that update, I referenced that some residents had reported that trees around the hotel have been taken down and I advised that these may be subject to a Tree Preservation Order (TPO).

I shared this information with the Council’s Planning Department and I received confirmation today that officers have visited the site where it was established that the land was being cleared without consent and that some trees had been damaged. Officers from the Council’s Planning Enforcement Team will be making arrangements for the Council’s Tree Officer and Police Wildlife Officer to make a further visit to assess the damage caused, including to any TPOs.

In the meantime, the owner/contractor on the site has been warned and cautioned not to undertake any further work on the site which will be monitored until the full assessment has been completed.

I hope that this update is helpful to you.

With best wishes,

Julia