Councillor Hits Back at REFORM’s Claims on Asylum Seekers at Bridgwater School

This story has grabbed significant attention in the news and online, shedding light on a problem: REFORM can say what it wants to stir up division. It all began with contentious claims made by a member/supporter of the REFORM UK’s Bridgwater branch, prompting me to question the validity of these statements in a public Full Council.

The REFORM UK member/supporter asserted that one in five students at Robert Blake School are from the Holiday Inn in North Petherton, a hotel currently housing asylum seekers. Such a bold claim raised concerns in the community, leading me to bring the matter before the Somerset Full Council meeting to determine whether this statement was fact or fiction.

In a decisive response, Somerset Council has comprehensively debunked these claims, confirming that the actual number of children from the Holiday Inn attending Robert Blake School is fewer than 20. This figure represents less than two percent of the total 1,073 students enrolled, which starkly contrasts with the misleading assertions made by REFORM.

Councillor Heather Shearer, responsible for children, families, and education, further clarified, stating, “Currently, there are 1,073 children on roll at Robert Blake School, and fewer than 20 of those live in the asylum hotel, so that representation is not accurate.”

The Holiday Inn in North Petherton has been temporarily closed since its designation by the Home Office in November 2022 as a facility to house migrants seeking asylum. The hotel has frequently been the subject of social media discussions, especially when a planned protest regarding its residents was scheduled last summer but was cancelled.

As Robert Blake School prepares to transition to the United Learning Trust on March 1, it is crucial that we remain committed to fact-based conversations, ensuring that misleading narratives, propagated by REFORM UK, do not overshadow the truth of the situation.