The Bishop of Sheffield spoke in a debate on government policy on housing asylum seekers in hotels on 20th January 2025, raising instances from his own diocese, the need for better integration of asylum seekers into communities, and the cost of hotel accommodation:
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield: My Lords, I declare an interest as the patron of the charity ASSIST Sheffield. In the interests of time, I will limit my remarks to three key points.
First, there is the question of safety. One of the communities I serve as the Bishop of Sheffield is Rotherham. Noble Lords may recall how, in August last year, a group of asylum seekers living at the Holiday Inn in Manvers were deliberately targeted, in an incident that led to criminal convictions for over 60 men. The following month, at the request of the Mayor of South Yorkshire, I arranged for one of the churches in Sheffield, Christ Church Fulwood, to offer sanctuary for the day, free of charge, to a group of asylum seekers because there were fears that their hotel could be subject to a similar attack. Quite simply, it subjects asylum seekers to danger if they are placed in hotels in visible numbers. Dispersed accommodation offers greater protection and, for that reason, we should move to that provision as swiftly as possible.
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