A Plymouth Independent councillor has slammed the city council for “muddying the waters” around the issue of asylum hotels.

Cllr Steve Ricketts (Ind, Drake) put forward a motion on notice to full council on Monday, asking the leader, Tudor Evans (Lab, Ham), to write to the government to state that the city does not want any asylum hotels.

He said it would have made the council’s view “crystal clear” to the people of Plymouth and asked for all members to back him.

Instead, the council accepted an amendment put forward by Labour councillors, which Cllr Ricketts said was “lots of words and not enough action and summed up the chaos in Labour’s immigration policy.

He said, “We need to break the cycle of hotels. We do not want asylum hotels appearing in Plymouth because of demand coming across the water.”

He said the costs spent in one year of £1.3 billion on housing asylum seekers in hotels were “astronomical”.

“This particular crisis has happened due to the small boats crisis, which has triggered hotel use.

“Since Keir Starmer was elected, 50,000 people have arrived by small boat from France, just last week there were 1,000, and the chaos continues. The problem is officially getting worse.

“We need our hotels to support local jobs – we do want Plymouth to be a place where people do not want to come anymore.”

But Labour councillors questioned whether Cllr Ricketts actually meant no asylum seekers rather than no hotels.

They said Plymouth had never had any asylum hotels, and the amendment supported the government’s plans to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029.

The full council agreed that the letter to the Home Secretary should note that hotels neither offered “dignity nor proper support” for asylum seekers, and the authority would stand to work with the government to ensure asylum seekers were supported into more suitable accommodation.

Cllr Kate Taylor (Lab, Ham) said Plymouth had a history of supporting those seeking asylum.

“As a city of seafarers and adventurers we are a place that understands the courage it takes to leave one’s home in search of safety.”

For the majority of people, there was no legal process to claim asylum in the UK before travelling here, so people risked their lives and travelled by illegal routes, such as on small boats, she said

“Contrary to the beliefs of some they are not entitled to normal state benefits, social housing, free mobile phones or driving lessons by the government and receive asylum support of just £49 a week for food, clothes and toiletries. I ask councillors, could you live off that?”

She told councillors that refugees made up less than half a per cent of the UK’s population, seven in ten seeking safety from persecution, conflict, homophobia or human rights violation from just five countries – South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan and Ukraine.

“Around half of those in Plymouth are from Afghanistan and Ukraine under support from the Home Office,” added the councillor.

Asylum seekers made up less than 500 of Plymouth’s population of 270,000, which was 18 in 10,000 people.

“I am glad that we do not have asylum hotels in Plymouth and that we never have. Hotels are not a suitable place for anyone to be living in a first-world country in the 21st century, not asylum seekers, not homeless families.

She said her amendment recognised the “compassion and kindness shown by the people of Plymouth to many others in years gone by”

“I hope it will continue for many years to come,” she said.

Cllr Matt Smith (Lab, Compton) said the government was committed to ending the use of hotels and, therefore, to him it was “a given that Plymouth would never get one”.

He said the policy of asylum hotels was introduced by the Conservative government, and it didn’t work.

Labour had 43 per cent fewer asylum seekers in hotels than there were under the peak of the Tories, he claimed.

He said some of the hotels that were used were overcrowded, in a poor state of disrepair and had issues with damp, mould, rats and more.

“Crucially they don’t offer the dignity that asylum seekers are entitled to, just like anybody else is. That’s why we need to bring an end to them.”

Cllr Ricketts said his motion was “very simple” but Labour councillors had tried to “monopolise it with compassion”.

“You do not have a monopoly on who cares the most, we all care,” he said.

He said the country was compassionate and always would be, but the government had to acknowledge when things were going wrong.

“Immigration is the central issue for everyone at the moment, even the prime minister himself admitted that. This motion creates more questions than answers. It sums up the chaos in Labour’s immigration policy.”

Cllr Patrick Nicholson (Ind, Plympton St Mary) said there was a diverse range of views across councillors regarding immigration, but he added: “Clearly the public at the moment are concerned about the numbers and local authorities being unable to cope.”

He said this was against a backdrop of a housing crisis and Plymouth trying to speed up housing provision to get local people off the housing waiting list.

The country should be “open and welcoming” to those who seek asylum from conflict, but people coming to the UK who are not eligible to come should not be impacting our communities”, he said.

It is understood that around 200 hotels are used across the UK to house asylum seekers, with areas of London hosting the highest number.

Last week, the leader of Devon County Council, Julian Brazil, called on people to show British values of “tolerance and compassion” following protests outside a hotel on the edge of Exeter hosting asylum seekers.

He said: “To blame all our country’s and our county’s ills on a tiny minority of desperate peoples is not the answer”.

He asked protestors to be mindful of the circumstances of children who had fled war and famine and were “terrified and confused”.

Plymouth City Council has requested the following action:

That the leader of Plymouth City Council writes to the home secretary, The Rt Hon Shabana Mahmood MP, congratulating her on her appointment and:

Welcoming the Labour government’s commitment to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029 and the prime minister’s wish to do this faster.

Acknowledging that Labour government policy means that Plymouth will not see asylum seekers housed in our hotels, as they never have been.

Noting that hotels are not appropriate places for asylum seekers to live, offering neither dignity nor proper support.

Confirming that Plymouth stands ready to work with the government to ensure asylum seekers are supported into more suitable accommodation.