Map shows UK councils that could launch legal challenge against asylum hotels
The ground-shaking court decision that closed a hotel housing asylum seekers in Epping has inspired several councils across the country to take a similar route.
On Tuesday, the High Court announced an interim injunction to stop the Bell Hotel in the Essex town being used as accommodation for asylum seekers.
Epping Forest District Council decided to take the legal path as protests grew outside the facility.
The case barely engaged with the tense debate around migration to the UK, instead hinging on mundane English planning law.
It now looks like that technique is likely to be replicated in several other areas.
Among the councils that have confirmed they are exploring legal routes to closing down asylum hotels are two controlled by Labour: Tamworth and Wirral.
A number of others are controlled, like Epping, by the Conservatives. They include Dudley, East Lindsey, Hillingdon, Broxbourne, and Reigate and Banstead.
Two more, Staffordshire and West Northamptonshire, are controlled by Reform UK.
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Meanwhile, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council in Northern Ireland is investigating the legal planning status of the Chimney Corner Hotel which is being used to house asylum seekers.
Councillor Louise Gittins, who chairs of the Local Government Association, said the organisation is ‘taking stock’ of the injunction to ‘understand how best to support our councils’.
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservatives, has written to Tory-controlled councils ‘encouraging’ them to ‘take the same steps’ as Epping.
The Home Office is bracing for more court challenges to emerge, and the possible need for alternative accommodation to be found urgently.
Figures released by the government this morning revealed there were just over 32,000 asylum seekers being housed in British hotels at the end of June.
They are staying in the temporary accommodation until their asylum claims are processed. If the claims are denied, they can be sent back to their home country, and if the claims are accepted, they are able to stay.
In the year leading up to this June, just under half of asylum claims were granted.
However, the number of applicants has also reached a new high, with around 111,000 people applying for asylum in the same period – the most in any 12 months since current records began in 2001.
The asylum decision backlog and Home Office spending on asylum have both fallen significantly in the past year.
Enver Solomon, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, said the government had managed to bring the asylum system ‘back from the brink of collapse’, calling it a ‘genuine achievement’.
He added: ‘The increase in asylum decisions means refugees can begin to rebuild their lives sooner, and the use of costly hotels can be ended faster.
‘However, this good work is being put at risk by poor-quality decisions – right now nearly half of appeals are successful.
‘These mistakes have life-changing consequences for the people we work with, who have fled persecution in countries like Sudan and Afghanistan.’
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘We inherited a broken immigration and asylum system that the previous government left in chaos.
‘Since coming to office we have strengthened Britain’s visa and immigration controls, cut asylum costs and sharply increased enforcement and returns, as today’s figures show.’
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