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) 4 min read42 min The government could bring in stipulations for companies that receive public money to house vulnerable people, like Travelodge, PoliticsHome understands. 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 …
