The UK Government has announced plans to overhaul the asylum appeals system in a bid to reduce the number of asylum seekers living in hotels across the country.
A new independent body will be created, staffed with adjudicators tasked with handling asylum appeals more quickly. Ministers believe the changes will ease pressure on communities and cut the costs of housing migrants in hotels.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the government was taking practical steps to end the unacceptable delays in the asylum system. She added that while initial asylum decisions had been accelerated, appeals still took far too long.
At present, asylum appeals take on average more than a year to be heard, with 51,000 cases currently waiting for a decision. During this time, failed applicants continue to be accommodated at taxpayers’ expense.
The government has come under growing criticism for relying on hotels to house asylum seekers. Around 32,000 people are still being housed in hotels despite ministers pledging to end their use during this parliament.
The issue has sparked widespread protests across the UK, with demonstrations on Saturday taking place in Bristol, Liverpool, London, Mold in Wales, Perth in Scotland, and County Antrim in Northern Ireland.
Police maintained a heavy presence, separating anti-immigration protesters from anti-racism campaigners staging counter-demonstrations. In Bristol, a 37-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker, while 11 arrests were made in Liverpool.
Tensions have been particularly high in Epping, Essex, where protests erupted outside the Bell Hotel after an asylum seeker was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Earlier this week, the High Court granted Epping Forest District Council a temporary injunction to stop the hotel being used to house asylum seekers, ruling that it breached planning regulations and posed a risk to public safety. Current residents must leave the premises by 12 September.
The government has confirmed it will appeal the decision. Meanwhile, several other councils, including Conservative-led Hillingdon, are considering legal action to prevent hotels in their areas from being used as asylum accommodation.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has urged Tory-controlled councils to seek legal advice on following Epping’s lead, while Reform UK’s Nigel Farage pledged that his party’s councils would do everything possible to block asylum hotels.
Figures from the Home Office reveal that 131 local authorities across the UK currently house asylum seekers in contingency accommodation, primarily hotels. Of these, 74 are led by Labour, 30 by the Liberal Democrats, 19 by the Conservatives, nine by the Green Party, and one by Reform UK.
Cooper stressed that the government remains committed to closing asylum hotels but insisted it must be done in a properly managed way.
