No clarity over whether Metropole will be in first wave of asylum hotel closures
No definitive answer yet on whether the Metropole will be in the first wave of asylum hotel closures
Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead.
This story was almost slightly different - in that the original headline read that The Metropole will not be part of the first wave of asylum hotel closures.
The Blackpool Lead has been asking questions all this week after it emerged at the weekend that the closure of 11 hotels would be announced.
And we were originally told definitively that The Metropole would not be included in that. But as we publish on Wednesday morning, there is less certainty around the issue and this story reflects that.
It is very clear, however, that people in Blackpool from top to bottom deserve clarity - as soon as possible.
Blackpool briefing
📚 Blackpool and the Fylde College has been chosen to provide major new courses linked to Britain’s defence industry and potentially “highly-skilled, well-paid jobs”, thanks to a £10m investment. The college has been selected as one of five new Defence Technical Colleges to offer vital skills training for the defence industries, as the Government looks to bolster Britain’s security in ‘an increasingly unsafe world’. The courses are expected to begin in September this year. The move is part of the government’s wider launch of 19 new Technical Excellence Colleges to train key skills for growth industries across the UK. Defence minister Luke Pollard, who visited the college’s Bispham campus on Monday, said: “We’re able to announce that the Ministry of Defence is investing £50m in five new Defence Technical Colleges, one of which is Blackpool and the Fylde College. It’s an investment of £10m for Blackpool.
🕳️ A Blackpool councillor has called for immediate emergency action to address a dangerously deteriorated stretch of road with some of the worst potholes on the Fylde coast. Cllr Paul Galley says part of Faraday Way in Anchorsholme is creating serious safety concerns for motorists. He says that while the majority of the road within Blackpool is maintained to a good standard, the section falling under Lancashire County Council has fallen into severe disrepair and is riddled with multiple potholes, creating a hazardous environment for drivers Lancashire County Council says it repaired some of the most hazardous potholes on the road at the weekend but further works won’t be carried out until next month.
⚽ A new floodlighting scheme proposed for part of Blackpool FC’s Bloomfield Road stadium has been given the green light by planners. The club was seeking planning consent from Blackpool Council to replace the six tall floodlights currently located at the East Stand with 24 lower-set lights which will lead to less ‘light spillage’. Now it proposed that the work will be carried out during the summer, once the current football season is over. The applicants for the scheme were listed as Blackpool Football Club Stadium and Property Limited. A covering letter from agents PWA Planning states that they have been retained by the club to “progress a full planning application for the replacement of floodlights at Bloomfield Road Stadium, Blackpool.”
No clarity over whether Metropole will be in first wave of asylum hotel closures
By Luke Beardsworth
It is not clear whether a Home Office announcement on plans to close 11 asylum hotels will include Blackpool - even to leaders in the town itself.
The Home Office will this week announce that 11 asylum hotels will close. The government has pledged to close all facilities by the next general election.
There are almost 200 hotels in use and they accommodate around 30,000 asylum seekers. A further estimated 70,000 live in other types of accommodation, which can include barracks or shared housing.
The Metropole has been a regular spot for anti-migrant protestors and The Blackpool Lead’s own investigations have shown that the hotel, now managed by Serco but owned by Britannia Hotels, is in a severe state of disrepair.
The Blackpool Lead was initially told that The Metropole would not be in this first wave of 11 closures. That was then supported by sources from Blackpool Council who said that their expectation is that the hotel would not be prioritised due the fact that it primarily houses families and, protests notwithstanding, has not been associated with any high profile incidents.
But that later changed and now Chris Webb, Labour’s MP for Blackpool South, said he has been assured that closing the Metropole is a priority. Despite that, it remains unclear which hotels will be in the first wave.
An announcement either way is expected this week, The Blackpool Lead understands.
The Blackpool Lead contacted Blackpool Council, Serco and the Home Office for clarity on the matter but nobody was able to answer definitively.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Blackpool Lead to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.