Written evidence submitted by Mears Group (AAC0057)

  1. Mears Group is a service delivery partner specialising in housing, care and facilities management.  We provide and manage 17,000 homes for local and central Government and are also responsible for keeping 750,000 social housing homes in the UK in good repair.    Mears has 5,400 employees and a footprint across the UK.
  2. In January 2019, the Home Office awarded Mears the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC) for three regions: Scotland, Northern Ireland, Yorkshire, the Humber and North East.   Following a transition period, we became the provider in September 2019.  
  3. As an experienced provider of housing across the UK, we have approached the AASC contracts committed to treating all our Service Users with dignity and respect.  Mears has supported over a hundred thousand people across the UK in asylum accommodation and feedback is generally positive about the way our staff work with Service Users and the quality of our provision.   Mears has generally achieved a high level of performance in respect of the key performance indicators (KPIs) set by The Home Office. Asylum accommodation and support provision is complex, and there are many challenges, but we are proud of our dedicated staff and the work they do every day. 
  4. Our evidence to the Inquiry addresses in particular, points in the terms of reference relating to the role of providers.  

Identifying and developing appropriate accommodation

  1. Policy on accommodation standards and requirements is determined by the Home Office and specified in the contract.   The Home Office is responsible for approving all accommodation sites and they lead on the discussions with local authorities and any consultation with communities.     Mears also liaise closely through the Strategic Migration Partnerships. 
  2. Mears role is an operational one, to procure, provide and maintain suitable asylum accommodation that is safe, habitable and fit for purpose and meets all contractual and regulatory standards.   
  3. The estate has grown considerably over the 5 years of the contract by acquiring a mix of family homes and Houses in Multiple Occupation. We have worked closely with Local Authorities to understand the areas where properties are likely to be sustainable or where there may be community cohesion issues. It is vital that we are always mindful of people’s safety.  .
  4. We have also at times agreed with Local Authorities that specific locations have a number of properties that should not be increased due to local impacts including on schools and health services
  5. Mears is able to arrange suitable dispersed accommodation in the community for the majority of Service Users although this is challenging due to the volume of people claiming asylum, combined with a shortage of supply of suitable housing.   Contingency hotel accommodation has been used by the Home Office across the UK in recent years and Mears has operated contingency sites (including hotels) in the three contract regions we are responsible for. The number of hotels in the Mears’ regions has decreased over the past 12 months.  
  6. We also operate a number of Initial Accommodation sites as per the contractual requirements. 

 

 

  1. When Mears was awarded the contracts, we assessed all properties that were utilised previously and took action to address any issues and bring the accommodation up to the new AASC contract standard.  At the same time Mears terminated the use of over 1000 properties and replaced them with new compliant homes to improve the estate. 
  2. Mears maintains an ongoing programme of planned and reactive property maintenance and, in addition, when a property is newly allocated, any repairs that are needed are carried out, there is a ‘deep clean’ and all relevant inventory is provided.    
  3. The Home Office carry out regular inspections and on average they look at 20 DA properties per week to ensure contract compliance.  In addition we have had over 1300 feedback surveys completed in the past year for DA properties and overall feedback is good.   Mears can share this feedback with the Committee if this would be helpful.
  4. Where repair requests, problems or issues arise, these can be reported through the Home Office’s provider of the AIRE service, Migrant Help.   Established systems are in place for Migrant Help to pass these on to Mears and we action them as appropriate and within contractual timelines.   Mears visits every property monthly and inspects to ensure each property is safe and to check on the wellbeing of each Service User. Data is reported to the Home Office on how issues are dealt with and the timelines. 
  5. Reactive repairs are classified under 3 categories (1, 2 and 3) dependant on the severity of repair / urgency of response required. These are notified to Mears via a combination of Service User calls to Migrant Help and those that are identified via Mears / Home Office inspections. During 2024, Mears undertook an average of circa 6,000 repairs per month over the 3 contract regions. Each repair is subject to a stringent quality specification and must be undertaken within the time detailed in the relevant KPI. Any potential non-conformances are discussed in the monthly CMG meetings.

 

 

  1. Contingency accommodation sites (including hotels) are being used as contingency accommodation by the Home Office across the UK.  There is currently a shortage of suitable and available properties in the community.  It should be noted that this is a challenge for central government, devolved governments and local authorities in meeting housing need more widely and hotels are also being used as contingency accommodation for resettlement schemes, homelessness and other needs.  
  2. Mears assesses hotels prior to using them, to ensure they are of an appropriate standard.   We work closely with the hotel and their staff to prepare the accommodation, and work with the Strategic Migration partnership on the wider support, such as putting place arrangements for access to healthcare.  There are hotel staff in place and these would continue, subject to training and DBS checks.
  3. Mears undertakes an induction exercise with the hotel staff when a hotel is onboarded which is specifically undertaken to give an overview of the Service Users and understanding of any particular requirements.  We are also undertaking the Mears “Make a Positive Difference” training to all security and hotel staff. 
  4. We have 24hr reception in hotels and there are safety policies and procedures which follow a risk assessment carried out by safety experts.   We have security on site at hotels at all times.  
  5. At hotels, three meals a day are provided to all services users.  Our menus meet NHS Eat Well standards and are nutritionally balanced.  Menus are reviewed and changed regularly.   Overall Service User feedback on food has been good and we take on board any comments and requests.   We make special provision for children in menus and provide child friendly snacks and drinks including fruit, fruit pots, yoghurts and milk.  All Service Users have an induction and any food or dietary considerations are recorded, including dietary, medical needs, allergies or food intolerance.   We also support with religious or cultural considerations, such as providing meals and snacks at different times during Ramadan.   
  6. Our service and accommodation is fully compliant with the contract and is regularly inspected by the Home Office.  We have also hosted site visits to hotels by local authorities, local MPs, and voluntary organisations and received positive feedback on the standard of accommodation, food, and the way we support our Service Users.
  7. The safety and welfare of our Service Users is of the utmost importance to Mears and we have in place a team of Welfare Support Officers  who support on site at hotels. Mears also promotes and organises activities for residents in the hotels which include sports, English lessons, child related activities and volunteering activities to connect with the local community.

 

 

  1. We operate two specialist Initial Accommodation sites to support Service Users when they are first routed to Mears provision.  
  2. Site 1 is an important and established initial accommodation centre which was operated under the previous contract, and which Mears took responsibility for under the AASC Contract.  We have carried out significant improvement work to the site which has a capacity to accommodate up to 330 Service Users. 
  3. Site 2 was opened by Mears in mid 2023 and provides for up to 200 Service Users.  Mears renovated the facility as a purpose designed site for initial accommodation.  Service users stay at these facilities while dispersed accommodation is being arranged.  The site was identified and mobilised with invaluable support and input from local public sector partners.
  4. We have co-located services at Initial Accommodation sites to provide additional support, and have very active partnership working with the public sector, including the NHS and local support organisations.  Both facilities are fully catered. Three meals a day are provided and all dietary needs are catered for.  Snacks are also provided.  Our approach is the same as with contingency accommodation, including following NHS Eatwell guidelines. 

Engaging and working with stakeholders

  1. All Mears accommodation is approved by the Home Office who lead engagement with the relevant local authority. Mears then works closely with local partners and local statutory agencies, including the NHS, Councils and the police so that in each area we have accommodation to ensure that our Service Users are seamlessly integrated into their communities. This involves building positive connections between our occupants and the local community, including with faith groups, community groups, sports, arts and other cultural activities.  
  2. We induct our Service Users into our sites by asking them to be respectful of local communities, and we seek to build community partnerships to support integration. Mears staff run through their occupancy agreements which Service Users must adhere to. 
  3. We understand that concerns and tensions will sometimes arise in local communities and with local residents and our staff work with all our Service Users to manage and support these situations. There have been instances where we have agreed with Councils and the Police that we should cease using some properties. We need to be constantly vigilant of the impact of the contracts for the best interests of all parties as well as to meet the requirements of the contract and work to end the use of Hotels. 

Safeguarding and supporting the welfare of people in asylum accommodation

  1. Mears understands the importance of supporting each person whilst living in its accommodation and our commitment to welfare and safeguarding meets and exceeds the contractual requirements. 
  2. All Mears staff are DBS  and SC checked and are trained on areas such as vicarious trauma, de-escalation training, safeguarding vulnerable people, cultural awareness training and customer service delivery.   Welfare support officers are on site at Initial Accommodation sites and at contingency hotel sites to be a point of contact and provide support to Service Users.  If any safeguarding concerns are reported to them, or they identify any issues, these are raised to our Safeguarding staff, who are highly professional, appropriately trained, and care about providing the best possible support to our Service Users.   
  3. The Home Office regularly surveys people in asylum accommodation and maintains a data dashboard.  In this calendar year to date, 1276 in Mears accommodation have been asked if they have found their housing officer helpful.  The response was 95% yes in Q1, 96% yes in Q2 and 97% yes in Q3.  

Managing and sharing data

  1. Data on Service Users, property and bedspace numbers is shared monthly with Strategic Migration Partnerships (and their constituent local authorities) as part of the Wider Dispersal meetings. The data packs also show detail on estate occupancy levels and the numbers of inspections, complaints and repairs undertaken within the estate. This is complemented by data on the contingency / hotel estate. Mears has in place data sharing agreements with health partners, particularly in respect of contingency / hotel sites. In addition, Mears informs local authorities within 48 hours when it is alerted by The Home Office that a Service User has received a positive discontinuation notice.


Engagement and joint working with local authorities, health services, NGOs and other local partners.

  1. We work very closely in partnership with local statutory agencies, including the NHS, Councils and the Police.  Arrangements can vary in the three contract regions, due to differences for example in government, local government and wider public sector structures.  In Northern Ireland, The Executive Office (TEO) fulfils the role of Strategic Migration Partnership (SMP). This body – along with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) are therefore key stakeholders.  In Scotland we work closely with COSLA (who act as Strategic Migrations Partnership) and we value this important and effective partnership.   In North East, Yorkshire and Humber, the Strategic Migration Partnerships are North East Migration Partnership (NEMP) and Migration Yorkshire. 
  2. Our partnerships and arrangements with the NHS vary according to local circumstances.  In Contingency / Hotel sites, we work alongside health partners to ensure that all Service Users have access to primary healthcare; within DA, we have a contractual responsibility to signpost Service Users to GP services as part of the induction process.
  3. Education is the responsibility of local authorities in Scotland and Yorkshire, North East and Humber.  In Northern Ireland it is the responsibility of Education NI.   We have protocols in place with those responsible for education and arranging school places to inform them when a school age child is placed in Mears accommodation.   We also signpost Service Users how to access education as part of the induction process. As previously noted Mears does support and run English as a Foreign Language lessons in various settings and locations.
  4. We have excellent partnerships in the community with local organisations, NGOs, charities and support groups, sports clubs, faith groups and many more.  We have an appointed Partnership Manager for each authority area who works with local authorities, Third Sector and Community partners to create opportunities for the Service Users. They also represent Mears at local authority calls and work with statutory agencies.
  5. As part of the wider dispersal initiative, our Partnership Managers have worked closely with local authorities new to Service User dispersal to ensure that accommodation and support is provided as seamlessly as possible. Full details of all our community and partnership activities can be provided if of assistance to the Committee.

Supporting people who are leaving asylum accommodation

  1. In the Home Office contractual arrangements, move on support services are provided by Migrant Help rather than Mears as the accommodation provider.  However, Mears staff do provide additional support.
  2. In the case of positive decisions, Mears staff support by liaising with the local authority to discuss the requirement for move on accommodation.  We allocate a welfare officer to each case, sign post Service Users to move on support services, and to local authorities for homeless support. 
  3. In the case of negative decisions, we signpost to organisations who support destitute asylum seekers.  Mears also work in partnership with these organisations to ensure pathways for support are maintained.

Feb 2025