Politics Home | Companies Housing Vulnerable People Could Face New Conditions To Receive Taxpayers’ Money

PoliticsHome revealed that Travelodge had been handed almost £70m by councils since 2022 (Alamy)

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It is one measure being considered by ministers as they look at how hotel security can be improved after a woman was sexually assaulted in one of the hotel chain’s rooms in 2022, with a government source telling PoliticsHome that “nothing is off the table”.

It comes after PoliticsHome revealed at the start of this month that Travelodge had been given almost £70m of taxpayers’ money via local authorities since a woman was sexually assaulted in one of its rooms in 2022.

In February, Kyran Smith was jailed for seven-and-a-half years for sexually assaulting a woman in a Travelodge in Berkshire in December 2022. Smith had attended the same party as the woman and had later acquired a key card to her room after falsely claiming to hotel staff that he was the victim’s boyfriend.

The case, which has led to intense scrutiny of Travelodge and calls for its CEO to be more accountable to MPs, has triggered a debate about whether the company should continue to receive taxpayers’ money, especially to temporarily house vulnerable people.

Public money is often given to hotel chains to house homeless or vulnerable people, to support councils facing a lack of social housing or council-owned housing.

PoliticsHome understands that a cross-department roundtable in the coming months will discuss what measures are needed to make sure vulnerable people in these settings are protected. A government source said “nothing’s off the table” and that “we just need to make sure the right safeguarding practices are being followed to keep vulnerable people safe”.

One possible step that ministers are expected to explore is new stipulations or guidelines for any company using public funding, to provide reassurance that the vulnerable are going to be looked after.

This could include regulation or policy guidance, for example, looking at procurement guidelines, in the same way that there are guidelines around modern slavery.

In March, Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticised Travelodge CEO Jo Boydell for not attending a meeting with MPs to discuss issues of room security.

Last month, PoliticsHome reported that Labour MP Matt Bishop was working on a new law to improve hotel security following the Travelodge assault.

The proposals, set to be introduced as a Ten Minute Rule Bill, would introduce industry standards to ensure the safety of individuals staying in hotels, and it was understood that the government is willing to work with the backbench MP on the plans.

Travelodge has previously apologised to the victim and said that the chain had done an internal review of its security policies, making “immediate changes to ensure that an additional or replacement room key is only issued with explicit permission from the person, or people, staying in the room”.

Boydell said: “The safety and security of guests is extremely important to me and our whole team. Our colleagues care deeply about safety, and we want everyone to be safe and feel safe in a Travelodge hotel.”

She added: “We have offered that all MPs interested in this important issue can feed into the independent review in writing so their contributions can be fully taken into account. My focus now, as the CEO, is ensuring that this important work progresses thoroughly and at pace, and that we learn from the independent review and further strengthen our processes.

“We also welcome the opportunity to work with Matt Bishop and MPs, and UK Hospitality, the body for the hotel sector, on his proposed ten-minute rule bill to help strengthen hotel security for Travelodge and also the wider sector. We have written to Matt to confirm that we want to work with him and MPs on his ten-minute rule bill.

“We have a long-standing relationship with a number of local authorities who choose to use Travelodge hotels, and we want to ensure that everyone feels safe when staying with us.”