Government looking at contingency options for where to house asylum seekers after Epping court ruling
Date: 2025-08-20T07:43:46.000Z
Title: Government looking at contingency options for housing asylum seekers after Epping hotel court ruling
Content: Security minister Dan Jarvis has said the government is looking at contingency options for where to house asylum seekers after a court ruled on Tuesday that they cannot live in a hotel in Epping, Essex.
According to the PA news agncy, he told Times Radio on Wednesday:
We're looking at a range of different contingency options following from a legal ruling that took place yesterday, and we'll look closely at what we're able to do.
Asked whether other hotels housing asylum seekers have the proper planning permission, Jarvis said:
Well, we'll see over the next few days and weeks. Other local authorities will be considering whether they wish to act in the same way that Epping [Forest] district council have.
I think the important point to make is that nobody really thinks that hotels are a sustainable location to accommodate asylum seekers.
That's precisely why the government has made a commitment that, by the end of this parliament, we would have phased out the use of them.
Keir Starmer's asylum plans have been plunged into turmoil after a high court ruling blocked people seeking refuge from being housed in the Essex hotel. Epping Forest district council was granted an interim injunction on Tuesday to stop asylum seekers from being placed at the Bell hotel, after continuing protests nearby.
More on this story in a moment, but first here are some other developments:
The government has agreed a new deal with Iraq to return illegal migrants as part of wider moves to limit small boat crossings. The deal, signed by Home Office minister Dan Jarvis, will set up a formal process to return Iraqis who have arrived in the UK with no right to stay in the country.
The head of the British armed forces will tell his American counterparts the UK is prepared to send troops to defend Ukraine's skies and seas but not to the frontline with Russia, as planning intensifies for a postwar settlement. Tony Radakin, the chief of the defence staff, will on Wednesday attend meetings at the Pentagon designed to finalise what 30 different countries are willing to commit to Ukraine's national security.
UK inflation rose again last month to a higher-than-expected 3.8% amid higher food prices and travel costs, adding to fears that the Bank of England will delay further interest rate cuts. Figures showed the annual rate as measured by the consumer prices index climbed from June's 3.6% reading, sitting above the central bank's 2% target for the 10th consecutive month.
The UK Space Agency (UKSA) is set to be absorbed by Whitehall as the government seeks to cut the cost of bureaucracy. The agency will merge with Peter Kyle's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in April 2026, in a move the government said would cut 'duplication' and ensure 'clear ministerial oversight'.
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The Independent
13 minutes ago
- The Independent
Is Labour really failing on immigration and asylum hotels?
Councils across England are weighing up legal challenges after the High Court's decision to block a hotel in Epping from accommodating asylum seekers. The ruling blocks asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel in the Essex town, and current residents must be removed by September 12. On Wednesday, several local authorities, including some run by the Labour Party, said they were considering their options to take similar action. The ruling has resulted in another wave of criticism directed at Sir Keir Starmer and his Labour government over immigration, with opposition parties repeatedly accusing the government of failing to adequately tackle the issue. Yet amid backlash and local council tensions, the figures show that Labour has already made significant steps to move away from the use of hotels. The multi-billion cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels has dropped markedly from its peak in 2023. Last year (2024/5), the cost for hotel bills was at £2.1bn, down by a third from £3.1bn in the previous year. The smaller bill is a result of multiple factors, most notably the reduction in the asylum backlog. The average daily cost for housing each asylum seeker in a hotel has gone down from £176 to £170 per person. This still remains higher than previous years. The government has also made efforts to reduce the proportion of asylum seekers housed in hotels, moving them towards other types of accommodation. Figures from March show 32,345 asylum seekers out of over 100,000 were being accommodated in hotels, with the remainder housed in temporary accommodation including council-owned homes and a former airfield. Just 30 per cent are staying in hotels, which is meant as a contingency - or temporary - measure. 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Yet most of the time, the government is forced to place people in hotels due to a lack of capacity, with a shortage of accommodation and a substantial –albeit decreasing – asylum backlog. The asylum backlog stood at 78,745 cases at the end of March – a 13 per cent drop from December, and down 41 per cent from the mid-2023 peak. Yet the sizeable backlog, which is still higher than pre-2022 levels, represents a host of ongoing costs for the government as people wait for a decision on their asylum claims. Most asylum seekers are still waiting over six months for an initial decision on their claim, although waiting times have improved compared to the same time last year. The majority of people in the backlog are Afghan, Pakistani and Iranian nationals, according to the Migration Observatory. The UK's asylum backlog is the fifth largest in Europe. Where are asylum seekers staying in the UK? Now, over 8 in 10 local authorities host some asylum seekers, Home Office figures show. 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Reform leader Nigel Farage has called on other councils to seek 'Epping-style injunctions' against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, adding: 'It is high time that the outrageously expensive asylum hotel scheme, which nobody in Britain ever voted for, was brought down by popular demand.' The recent pushback has come amid record levels of small boat crossings to the UK. Labour's education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith has admitted that the high numbers are 'a problem that, up until this point, we haven't managed to tackle'. People coming on small boats make up an increasing proportion of asylum applications. Last year, a third of the UK's asylum claims came from small boat migrants. In 2025 so far, over 26,000 migrants have already crossed the English Channel, higher than summer levels in any year to date. In fact, figures at mid-August have nearly exceeded the entirety of 2023 (29,437). Meanwhile arrests of people smugglers who enable the crossings were down last year, according to National Crime Agency data obtained by The Independent. The shadow home secretary called Labour's failure to 'smash the gangs' an 'abject failure'. This suggests that small boats migration could be the highest on record over 2025, bringing with it a slew of new asylum claims; since almost all irregular migrants apply for asylum.
The Independent
13 minutes ago
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As St George's Cross protests grow, what are the rules on flying flags?
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