Member

The solution on offer from the noble Baroness, Lady Scott of Bybrook, in the other amendments in this group is very different, as it is not a practical solution to the high cost of using hotels to house asylum seekers. The question is: how did this situation arise? The increased use of hotels for asylum seekers began in 2020, under the noble Baroness’s Government, and has steadily increased from 1,200 in March 2020 to over 100,000 by June 2024, at a cost each year of around £3 billion. I hope the noble Baroness is not going to dispute those figures, because I got them from the House of Lords Library. The next question is: how is it that the Conservatives have only just realised that a change of use planning application may be needed? Why has it taken five years for that apparently to be realised?