A CITY councillor has again questioned why debates on housing asylum seekers in Worcester are being held behind closed doors.

Alan Amos complained during a communities committee meeting in July that a discussion was being held in private.

He raised the issue again this week when committee members were asked to approve the minutes of July’s meeting.

“My concern is this,” said Cllr Amos. “Dispersing hundreds of asylum seekers in Worcester, accommodating them, is a very big issue for the people of Worcester.

“Is the reason for the secrecy because London bureaucrats or whoever they are think that the people of Worcester are either too stupid or irrelevant to know what’s going on in their city?

“Or is there some other reason why it’s secret?

“All I’m asking for is a reason why we have to discuss this issue in secret, so that the people of Worcester don’t know what we’re talking about.

“What is the secrecy about dispersing hundreds of people who have got to be accommodated in Worcester? It’s a matter of public concern, a matter of public interest, whatever view you have on it.”

Committee chair Jabba Riaz said he would try to get an answer to Cllr Amos’s questions from council officers.

In July’s meeting, council officers said they’d been given information by the Home Office that was not to enter the public domain.