Labour councils consider asylum hotel legal challenges

Labour councils have joined Conservative and Reform-run authorities in considering legal challenges against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers. This comes after the High Court granted a temporary injunction to prevent 140 asylum seekers from staying at the Bell Hotel in Essex earlier this week.

More than half a dozen councils have stated they are reviewing their legal options, and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has confirmed that Tory-controlled councils will support them. When questioned about the potential for court action, Education Minister Catherine McKinnell said that Labour "inherited an absolute mess of an immigration system from the previous government."

Rising and Falling Numbers

According to the latest Home Office figures, the number of asylum seekers staying in hotels has risen by 8% in the past year to 32,059 at the end of June. However, this figure is down 43% year-on-year from 2023, when numbers peaked at 56,042. There has also been a slight decrease since the end of March, when the total was 32,345.

Carol Dean, the leader of the Labour-controlled Tamworth council, said her authority had previously decided against legal action but was now "carefully considering" what she described as a "potentially significant legal precedent." Similarly, Labour-run Wirral council asked the Home Office last week to reconsider its decision to house single male asylum seekers rather than families in Hoylake's former Holiday Inn Express. However, other Labour-led councils in Newcastle and Brighton and Hove have ruled out court challenges, with the former stating they wanted to provide "sanctuary."

The Epping case is the first time a judge has ruled in a council's favour over asylum hotels. The council was able to show "evidenced harms" related to protests around the hotel, which had resulted in violence and arrests. Government ministers are now drafting contingency plans to move asylum seekers out of the hotel before the court's deadline of September 12. Further successful court cases may force the government to find alternative housing options for the migrants.

Political Reactions

Following the High Court decision, Kemi Badenoch wrote to Tory council leaders, stating, "We encourage you to take similar steps if your legal advice supports it." A Labour spokesperson described Badenoch's letter as "desperate and hypocritical" given that her party were "the architects of the broken asylum scheme." They added that the number of asylum hotels had been "as high as 400" under the previous government. "There are now half that and there are now 20,000 fewer asylum seekers in hotels than at their peak under the Tories."

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp claimed that at least four more Conservative-run councils, including Broxbourne, Reigate and Banstead, and Hillingdon, were considering legal proceedings. "I think these councils are sick and tired of being flooded with these asylum hotels, which are predominantly young men who entered the country unlawfully in these countries," he said. "They want to see them closed down."

Corina Gander, the Conservative leader of Broxbourne Council, said she was "expecting to go down the same path" as Epping Forest District Council in bringing a legal challenge. She told BBC Newsnight, "We don't know who is in that hotel and it has caused an annoyance to the neighbourhood."

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage stated that all councils run by his party would "do everything in their power to follow Epping's example." However, a Reform spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, admitted that only "a minority" of these councils have planning power. The leader of the Reform UK-led West Northamptonshire Council said they were "considering the ramifications of this decision to learn any similarities and differences and also considering the options now available to us."

Background and Solutions

The use of hotels to house asylum seekers increased dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic, reaching a record high of 56,042 in 2023 when the Conservatives were in government, having previously been used only for short-term emergencies. The Labour government has pledged to end the use of migrant hotels by 2029 by reducing small-boat crossings and speeding up asylum decisions. According to Home Office data, the number of asylum seekers in hotels decreased by 15% between December and March of this year.

Chris Philp, who was a Home Office minister when the use of hotels rose dramatically, has written to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, proposing that former military sites or barges be used as asylum shelters instead of hotels, flats, or house shares. While defending the right to peaceful protest, he acknowledged that "of course there have been some elements that haven't been peaceful" and that some people were "understandably angry." Police reported that a "peaceful protest" at the Bell Hotel earlier this month led to officers being pelted with eggs, fireworks being set off, and vehicles being damaged.