Duncan Sharkey, chief executive of the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, said: “The council was advised on Tuesday evening by the Home Office that it will be using The Manor Hotel, Datchet, to accommodate people seeking asylum who are at risk of destitution, and intends to stand up this operation from today (1 September).
“Just as with the existing asylum seeker site at the Holiday Inn, Maidenhead, this is a private arrangement between the Home Office and the hotel. The council was not informed until this week, was not involved in this arrangement and will not be involved in the running of this accommodation site or provision of day-to-day support, which is all being handled via the Home Office.
“This is a national situation and there are more than 100 hotels operating as accommodation sites for asylum seekers, including in other parts of Berkshire. However, we are concerned about the Home Office giving minimal notice to the council – and by extension to our communities – which makes service planning a lot more challenging. We will feed back strongly to the Home Office on those points. We will liaise with the Home Office, NHS services and other partners with respect to our statutory duties at the site.”