Councils still planning asylum hotel legal action despite Epping ruling

Despite a Court of Appeal decision, several councils state they are still seeking legal assistance to prevent asylum seekers from being housed in hotels in their regions. The court reversed a provisional injunction that would have barred asylum seekers from being housed at The Bell Hotel in Epping, which was seen as a potential precedent for litigation elsewhere. According to the BBC, two councils have announced that they would continue seeking court action. The Epping Forest District Council, which had obtained the injunction, said it was considering alternatives, including appealing to the Supreme Court. Reform UK said that all 12 councils it controls should be investigating legal options to avoid asylum seekers being housed in local hotels.

Following the ruling, Kemi Badenoch pleaded with Conservative-run councils to keep going, and that following the decision, all Conservative councillors will be sent. In a tweet on Friday, the party leader said:

Every case has different circumstances, and I know strong Conservative councils will continue fighting for residents,

the party's leader said, and we will continue to work with them every step of the way. The government willstop using hotels, which aren't a cost-effective option for the government,

Dame Angela Eagle, a border security and Asylum Minister, said after the decision. The court's decision, which was brought by lawyers for the Home Office and The Bell Hotel, would enable the government to do so

in a planned and orderly manner,

she said. The decision by Reform-controlled West Northamptonshire Council on Friday did not change the company's decision to take legal action against hotels in the area, which he said were

already underway.

It also doesn't change our view that the three hotels' use and locations have never been appropriate for asylum accommodation and placing a harmful and unsustainable strain on local services,

councillor Mark Arnull said.

We'll continue to do everything we can within our powers to address our guests' questions about these hotels and keep them safe,

he said.

The Conservative-run Broxbourne Council in Hertfordshire also announced that it would continue seeking legal action.

We have serious questions that from a planning standpoint, the hotel or the premises are not being used as intended when planning permission was given,

Councillor Jim Clune told BBC Radio 4's Today show.

Epping Forest had argued that the Bell Hotel had become a public safety risk as well as a suspected planning violation, arguing that it had stopped operating as if it had been a true hotel in its original case.

On Saturday, Chris Whitbread, the chief of Epping Forest District Council, told the BBC that the company was

looking at all alternatives, including appealing to the Supreme Court. In mid-October, a full High Court hearing to decide on a permanent injunction for The Bell Hotel is anticipated, but Whitbread said the Conservative-run council would convene on Monday to discuss the next steps. Barrister Chris Daw KC told BBC 5 Live Breakfast that Epping Forest was

not going to succeed in the Supreme Court

if it were to hear its appeal there. Whitbread said in reaction that he had made his remarks

on board. He told BBC Breakfast that people are extremely disappointed by the decision, and that he wished demonstrations near the hotel to persist.

I don't think it will change, people want the hotel closed,

he said, urging people to protest peacefully. Following a demonstration outside the hotel on Friday, two men were charged - one with assaulting an ambulance service and the other with failure to produce a specimen. Essex Police said on Saturday afternoon that a third man arrested on suspicion of violent conduct remains in jail. Thousands of people had attended demonstrations against the hotel and counter-demonstrations over the summer. Meanwhile, the Times announced that at least 13 councils planned on going forward with legal action.

Lord Justice Bean's decision to award the injunction was seriously flawed in principle, according to Lord Justice Kerry, who had failed to consider the consequences of relocated 138 asylum seekers who would have been compelled to leave The Bell Hotel by 12 September. He also said it was worry that the council's legal team cited demonstrations outside the hotel as a reason for seeking the original injunction. Lord Justice Bean wrote in his decision:

If an outbreak of demonstrations raises a case, it could end up being a catalyst for more demonstrations, some of which may be disorderly.

There is a chance of boosting further lawlessness.

The demonstrations began after an asylum seeker staying at the hotel was arrested and charged with a number of criminal charges, including the sexual harassment of a 14-year-old teen. Hadush Kebatu denies charges and hasbeen on trial. The Court of Appeal's decision, according to the Refugee Council's chief, does not

solve the problems we're facing.

It doesn't mention the fact that the taxpayer is expected to pay millions of pounds per day for hotels,

Enver Solomon told BBC Breakfast on Saturday, and many that are in the hotels say they have been hit by the hotel's back. He said the government had tomove much faster

to reduce the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, and that it had to put a strategy in place

to close hotels in the coming months. Our view is that we shouldn't be using hotels, he said. They have been a flashpoint for neighborhood fear, but also for far-right attacks.

In the meantime, Labour peer Lord Falconer said that the government was doing the

right thingon the use of hotels, but that there wasa lot more to do.

If we don't as a government do it, we'll see those opinion polls go even higher for change,

he said on BBC Radio 4's Today show. "But the country needs some action in connection with it. According to Home Office results, the number of asylum seekers being housed in hotels increased marginally to 32,059 in the year to June. When Labour came to office, this was much more than it was expected when Labour was first elected, but it was still below a record of 56,000 in September 2023 under the Conservatives. In the meantime, a record 111,000 asylum applications were submitted to the United Kingdom in the same year, essentially an increase from last year, but the government is dealing more cases than before the general election.