Fact check: ‘Asylum hotels', employment data and ‘enhanced customs monitoring'

Leader Live

18 hours ago

Is the Government 'opening up' asylum hotels?
Earlier this week, amid concern about unrest outside a hotel in Epping used to house asylum seekers, shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly MP claimed in a broadcast interview: '[Labour] are opening up asylum hotels, they are increasing the use of asylum accommodation around the country'.
It is true that under Labour the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels has increased, as our Government Tracker explains. According to the latest available data, 32,345 asylum seekers were housed in hotels at the end of March 2025, up from 29,585 at the end of June 2024, just before Labour came into office.
The data also showed there were 71,339 asylum seekers living in other types of non-hotel accommodation at the end of March 2025, compared with 67,057 at the end of June 2024. The majority were in 'dispersal accommodation', which is longer-term temporary accommodation managed by providers on behalf of the Home Office, with others housed in 'initial accommodation', which is typically shared accommodation while an asylum seeker is having their claim for support assessed.
The Home Office told us that 210 asylum hotels are currently in use as of July 23, and that they expected more to close. On March 3 2025, Dame Angela Eagle MP, minister for border security and asylum, said that in July 2024 there were 213 hotels in operation, suggesting the number of hotels in use is currently slightly lower than when Labour first came into office.
According to the Home Office's latest accounts, 'the total number of contracted hotels reduced by 71 across 2024-25', although it did not specify the starting or end totals, and this time period also includes figures from when the Conservatives were in office.
It is worth noting however that while the overall number of hotels in use appears to have come down slightly, there have been recent reports of new hotels being intended to house asylum seekers. It is possible this is what Sir James meant when he said Labour was 'opening up' hotels.
We have contacted Sir James for comment.
Unemployment and jobs: what has happened under Labour?
In recent weeks we have seen contrasting claims being made about the labour market – in particular, on how unemployment has changed since Labour came into Government in July 2024.
There are a number of different sources of statistics on the labour market. These datasets all measure slightly different things, and as a result debate on employment, unemployment and jobs can often be confusing – for example, we regularly see seemingly contradictory claims on these topics made during Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs), when in fact each side is referring to completely different data.
For instance, during some recent sessions of PMQs, both the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner have claimed that 384,000 jobs have been created under Labour.
These claims have been challenged by the Conservative party and others, who have pointed out that under Labour unemployment has risen.
This confusion is likely because Sir Keir and Ms Rayner are referring to workforce jobs data, which includes both employed and self-employed jobs and does indeed show a 384,000 increase in the number of jobs between June 2024 and March 2025 (the latest month for which figures are available).
But these figures look at the number of jobs and are not comparable with data on actual employment (or unemployment), which looks at the number of people who are (or are not) working, as some people have more than one job.
Going abroad four times a year will not flag you to HMRC for 'enhanced customs monitoring'
We have seen a number of social media posts claiming that the Government is introducing a new system called 'enhanced customs monitoring' on August 4 to 'track UK residents who leave the country more than three times within a 12-month period' to check they are living within their means. But this is not true, and no such system exists.
Videos circulating online claim that on someone's fourth trip abroad, an automatic alert will be sent to the 'mobility oversight unit', said to be a new branch under HMRC and the Home Office, which will check whether people's 'declared income, employment status and tax residency match [their] lifestyle'.
The videos claim this new system was revealed after a leaked briefing was reported by the Guardian newspaper.
They go on to say this includes both holidays and work trips, and all modes of travel.
A spokesperson for HMRC confirmed the information is untrue and told Full Fact that 'this video is disinformation, designed to cause undue alarm and fear'. They added: 'Anyone wanting information on rules around taxation should go to Gov.uk or seek advice from a tax professional.'
Full Fact could not find any results for 'enhanced customs monitoring' or a 'mobility oversight unit' on UK Government websites, or on the Guardian website.