Over the weekend of the 30/31st August, around 400 anti-hotel protesters and 20 pro-hotel protesters were in Copthorne for a second, significant protest along with a notable police presence. This was one of many taking place around the country in the wake of the Labour Government overturning the temporary injunction in place at the Bell Hotel in Epping Forest where their Home Office lawyers arguing the rights of migrants outweighed those of the local community.
The Copthorne Hotel has been in use as an asylum hotel since 2021 when it first offered sanctuary to Afghan refugees. I appreciate the local community has been very patient and supportive but recognise this patience has, understandably, worn thin and the community rightly feels it has done its bit. After a second summer of discontent, it’s clear this matter needs to be resolved to the public’s satisfaction once and for all.
This relates to a wider matter and there is a substantial response you may be interested in reading here:
Illegal Immigration September 25
The Copthorne Hotel accommodates more asylum seekers than the whole of Surrey and takes more than half of all those in Sussex. This hotel and its current usage is an issue that I have been working on and getting to grips with since the boundary changes and the General Election.
Copthorne is essentially a rural village and we must listen when these Mid Sussex district residents tell us they now feel more than uneasy about the large groups of men reportedly congregating, that their children aren’t playing on the local green anymore and that the village now feels radically changed and there is division between residents themselves. This is an issue which, rightly, local councillors and the parish council have been in contact with me about as it was clear tensions across the summer were rising.
I was pleased to finally be able to visit the Copthorne Hotel on the 28th August on behalf of my constituents to raise their concerns and queries, and assess the situation on the ground for myself. This visit was requested back in the Spring and I am grateful to the Home Office for pulling it together, albeit after some months of chasing. On that visit, I had an apology from the Home Office representative who acknowledged, despite my team’s approaches over several months to gain knowledge and understanding of the site, my repeated request as the constituency MP had taken too long to fulfil and we agreed it was unacceptable.
On behalf of my constituents, I directly raised issues and questions ranging from public safety, especially of women and girls to illegal working, financial costs to the local authority, housing, schools, access to health services and extra social and sporting activities.
Here is some information about the site and the current situation that I have garnered:
The hotel currently looks after around 500 residents and try to keep a proportionate mix of male, female and families; there are 78 children as part of family groups. There was a calm and purposeful atmosphere, the staff we met were professional and experienced and it is noticeable there are many women within the staff provision.
It is an open site, with ‘service-users’ (as they are known) free to come and go. There is no curfew in place. There is no available information on immigration status or arrival method. Newcomers are reportedly moving through the system more quickly.
Crown Lodge took over the care of the service users in January 2024 and are responsible for their wellbeing, safeguarding and management. All the 4* provision has rightly been stripped away and there is no access at all to any spa or pool facilities. I am told a room and meals only are provided directly by the hotel.
Illegal Working
Attendance is monitored through a sign in and out system and meal logs. Weekly room checks happen. They check for patterns of absences and signs of wealth as indicators of illegal working which are reported to, and investigated by, the Home Office. I flagged a potential connection with local building companies and am pleased to say the Home Office have committed to proactive enforcement along the lines of that undertaken in food delivery services. Illegal working is unfair, a definite pull factor on social media and needs to be stopped; I will be monitoring Home Office actions closely. My team and I have been monitoring the reports of illegal working and are feeding this directly to the Home Office as this has been a particular bugbear to local residents.
Health Services
Regarding health services – while the local NHS provides a triage service for the hotel, I am assured the process, and wait, to get a GP appointment is the same as for the general population. Staff have first aid training and mental health training, and work to manage expectations and demand which they do admit can sometimes be high – I pointed out the difficulties faced by local people in getting appointments – they were very aware of this and it was part of their work around managing the needs of the residents. To be clear, there is no GP based on site, I am assured.
Activities
Staff were adamant that the Local Authority did not fund any activities for those staying on site and any ‘extras’ were provided by charities and church groups at their cost. Residents receive £8 per week per person.
Schools
I was surprised to hear it was felt, in regards to education, there was a reluctance in taking asylum children from the hotel and the support offered was not similar to London boroughs. I pointed out shire funding is vastly different and so that should affect expectations in this area. Part of the local upset is the increased needs and costs for our SEND children especially since the pandemic even as I hear TA support is being reduced. I felt these issues had not necessarily been considered by the Home Office. While I understand they are focused on looking after the children in their care, it is essential those needs are considered in relation to the wider needs of the communities these hotels are situated in. This, again, will be something I will keep raising and focusing on.
Housing
I was told a very low proportion of service users stay in the constituency after leaving the hotel and remaining in Britain so don’t directly add significantly to the already existing housing pressures locally. A full dispersal modal right across the country is followed – with recent rules having changed to mean properties can only turned down once and then service users are considered to have made themselves ‘intentionally homeless’, unless exceptional circumstances apply. It is interesting as I write that the Labour Government have still not replaced their Homelessness Minister despite her having been pressured into a hasty resignation.
Public Safety
Public safety is paramount and I do appreciate and greatly understand people are worried and fed up. We recognise a lot of asylum seekers and illegal migrants come from countries and cultures that are very different to ours. Not all cultures view and treat their women and girls equally and in a way all women and girls deserve. I raised all the issues in this area which have led to such malcontent in recent months. I have been asked by the management to make them aware of any particular concerns and I will be sure to do so alongside informing the police and other authorities.
Crown Lodge say they make their service users aware of cultural expectations on arrival and they liaise with the police and the Home Office on this issue. They work to keep a mixed intake rather than being a hotel for single males and are vigilant around mental health issues. They have felt a need to increase their security over the last 6-8 weeks and have advised residents to stay on hotel grounds on protest days and be mindful of the community’s upset and concerns.
To be candid, an area of grave concern was the acknowledgement that some service users may choose to leave the hotel. This is reflected absolutely in concerns raised to me by local constituents. I was told, in reality, some are leaving and going to family, leaving a forwarding address. But it would be brainless not to think others simply are able to disappear. While I understand, after 24 hours, this is followed up by a call, a check or a report to the Home Office, I will be asking more questions in Parliament and have raised it with my colleagues in the Shadow Team. This is the type of vital issue that needs addressing through proper deterrent and management which myself and the community see as a necessity.
As you may be aware, the Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, wrote to Conservative councils encouraging them to take the same steps as Epping Council if their legal advice supports it and I have discussed this approach with our relevant district and parish councils.
There are two distinct planning permissions to consider and I have raised this with my local MSDC conservative councillors. one permission is for staff quarters and one is for use of the hotel as a hostel. Both are due to expire at different times, the longest in approximately 18 months. We feel, in line with what the Labour governments says it wants to do, the best approach for this hotel is to push for an orderly reduction in use– insisting on the continuation of the mixed intake meanwhile – and, when the current planning permission ends, we will make it very clear this site should not be renewed.
The Copthorne hotel needs to be returned to its original purpose as a valued hospitality resource and focal point for the local community, alongside serving Gatwick and local businesses, & providing much needed work opportunities and local jobs for local people. Starter roles in hospitality at this much-loved historic venue are greatly missed and I believe, like the community, we should strive to get it back for its original use as soon as possible, meaning the community has been listened to, the Home Office have got control and the Labour Government is held to account.
I understand people may wish to continue to lawfully protest, and, as always, I support peaceful, democratic demonstrations to highlight any issue. I will continue to amplify my constituents’ voices in Parliament, to local authorities and the police, scrutinise government policy and push for progress on their ‘orderly closure’ commitments. I will press for answers to the continued questions I still have and will always advocate for the Copthorne Hotel to be returned to community use as a matter of urgency and to be delivered as a priority.
I greatly recognise the ongoing strong feeling, worries and upset around this matter and this site. Nobody should live in fear in our community and we should expect peace and harmony on our streets and in our communities. I will continue to listen to the worries and act on concerns so that this problem can be dealt with finally - and protests and upset are a thing of the past.
Please click on the link below to read about the latest news on the Copthorne Hotel:
