The Home Secretary did not rule out the idea when she was questioned by a Lords committee on Wednesday.
21 December 2022
Disused cruise ships could be used to house asylum seekers under plans being considered by the Home Office.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman confirmed her department is looking at the idea and suggested officials were in talks with ship companies as she told peers “everything is still on the table and nothing is excluded”.
Speaking to the Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee on Wednesday, she discussed the “incredibly difficult” challenge of hitting the ambition of getting 100,000 asylum seekers in local authority accommodation – as opposed to resorting to hotels – with that figure currently at 57,000.
“You then asked about cruise ships, we want to end the use of hotels as quickly as possible because it’s an unacceptable cost to the taxpayer, it’s over £5 million a day on hotel use alone,” she said.
“We will bring forward a range of alternative sites, they will include disused holiday parks, former student halls – I should say we are looking at those sites – I wouldn’t say anything is confirmed yet.
“But we need to bring forward thousands of places, and when you talk about vessels all I can say is – because we are in discussion with a wide variety of providers – that everything is still on the table and nothing is excluded.”
