Government working on contingency plans after ruling on Epping migrant hotel
Security minister Dan Jarvis 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 migrant hotels have the proper planning permission, Mr 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.'
A STATEMENT FROM NIGEL FARAGE
This is a victory for the parents and concerned residents of Epping. They do not want their young women being assaulted on the streets.
This community stood up bravely, despite being slandered as far right, and have won. They represent the vast…
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) August 19, 2025
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has indicated that councils run by his party will consider their own legal challenges.
However, a number of these councils do not have responsibility for planning permission, which may limit their ability to launch legal challenges.
Mr Farage also called for peaceful protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers to put pressure on local authorities to take the same route as Epping Forest.
Writing in The Telegraph, he said: 'Now the good people of Epping must inspire similar protests around Britain.
'Wherever people are concerned about the threat posed by young undocumented males living in local hotels and who are free to walk their streets, they should follow the example of the town in Essex.
'Let's hold peaceful protests outside the migrant hotels, and put pressure on local councils to go to court to try and get the illegal immigrants out; we now know that together we can win.'
On Tuesday, a High Court judge ruled the former Bell Hotel in Epping must stop housing asylum seekers by September 12.
Epping Forest District Council had asked a judge to issue an interim injunction stopping migrants from being accommodated there.
The hotel has been at the centre of a series of protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker who was staying there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
The Home Office had warned the judge that an injunction could 'interfere' with the department's legal obligations, and lawyers representing the hotel's owner argued it would set a 'precedent'.
Our work with international partners is vital to stopping small boat crossings to the UK.
A joint intelligence unit involving the @NCA_UK and French counterparts has helped dismantle at least 52 organised immigration crime gangs operating in France.
— Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) August 17, 2025
Now, Conservative-run Broxbourne Council in Hertfordshire has said it was taking legal advice 'as a matter of urgency' about whether it could take similar action to Epping Forest District Council, which is also run by the Tories.
Reform UK-led councils, West Northamptonshire Council and Staffordshire County Council, also said the authorities would look at the options available after the High Court ruling.
Ian Cooper, leader of Staffordshire County Council, said: 'The control and protection of our country's borders is a national issue, but the impact of central government policy is felt in communities across Staffordshire.'
The latest Home Office data showed there were 32,345 asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of March.
This was down 15% from the end of December, when the total was 38,079, and 6% lower than the 34,530 at the same point a year earlier.
New figures – published among the usual quarterly immigration data release – are expected on Thursday, showing numbers in hotels at the end of June.
Figures for hotels published by the Home Office date back to December 2022 and showed numbers hit a peak at the end of September 2023 when there were 56,042 asylum seekers in hotels.
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