Yvette Cooper has served closure notices to seven asylum hotels as the government works to bring the asylum backlog down.
The home secretary informed the Home Affairs Select Committee of the imminent closures, saying she is “determined to keep making progress” on the issue.
According to the latest figures, there are currently around 116,000 asylum seekers who have been “stuck in a backlog” of more than two years.
Ministers have blamed the situation on the policies of the previous government, arguing that the system “ground to a standstill” because the Tories were busy pursuing the Rwanda policy “which was doomed to failure”.
The Labour Party immediately scrapped the policy – which would have sent those entering the UK illegally to settle in Rwanda – on entering into government, branding it a “gimmick” and a waste of money.
They have since diverted the staff working on the failed scheme to clearing the asylum backlog which has been costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds.
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