§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will respond to the petition from the residents of Thorrington and others presented to Parliament on 27 July. [142751]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeI have written on two occasions to the hon. Member for North Essex about the issue raised in the petition, namely the placement of asylum seekers at the Silver Woods Hostel (formerly the Silver Springs motel). My first letter preceded the presentation of the petition to Parliament and the second was sent in response to the hon. Member's further letter of 7 September.
271WI can only confirm that the present use of the hostel for asylum seekers is not a matter for which my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has any responsibility and he has no powers to prevent that use. The National Asylum Support Service has not designated Thorrington as a cluster area for the dispersal of destitute asylum seekers and their families and has not sought to accommodate asylum seekers there.