Councils still planning asylum hotel legal action despite Epping ruling | UK News

Some councils say they are still pursuing legal action to stop asylum seekers from being housed in hotels in their areas, despite a Court of Appeal ruling.

The court on Friday overturned a temporary injunction which would have prevented asylum seekers from being housed at The Bell Hotel in Epping, which was seen as a possible precedent for legal challenges elsewhere.

Two councils told the they will keep pursuing legal action. Epping Forest District Council, which had obtained the injunction, said it is looking at options, including appealing to the Supreme Court.

Reform UK said all 12 councils it controls should be exploring legal options to stop asylum seekers being housed in local hotels.

Kemi Badenoch urged Conservative-run councils pursuing legal action to “keep going,” and said advice would be issued to all Conservative councillors following the ruling.

The party leader said in a statement on Friday: “Every case has different circumstances, and I know good Conservative councils will keep fighting for residents, so we will keep working with them every step of the way.”

The leader of Reform-controlled West Northamptonshire Council said Friday’s ruling did not change its plans to take legal action regarding hotels in the area, which he said were “already under way”.

Cllr Mark Arnull said: “It also doesn’t change our view that the use and locations of the three hotels have never been suitable for asylum accommodation and place unreasonable and unsustainable strain on local services.”

He added: “We will continue to do everything we can within our powers to address our residents’ concerns over these hotels and keep them safe.”

Hertfordshire’s Conservative-run Broxbourne Council also said it would press on with pursuing legal action.

Cllr Jim Clune told Radio 4’s Today programme: “We have grave concerns that from a planning perspective, the hotel or the premises is not being used as set out when planning permission was given.”

In its original case, Epping Forest had argued that The Bell Hotel had become a public safety risk as well as an alleged planning law breach, arguing it had stopped functioning as a true hotel.

The leader of Epping Forest District Council told the on Saturday it was “looking at all options, including appealing to the Supreme Court”.

A full High Court hearing to decide on a permanent injunction for The Bell Hotel is expected in mid-October, but Cllr Chris Whitbread said the Conservative-run council would meet on Monday to plan its next steps.

He told Breakfast that “people are very disappointed” by the judgement and that he expected protests near the hotel to continue.

“I don’t think it will change, people want that hotel closed” he said, urging people to demonstrate peacefully.

Three arrests were made at a protest outside the hotel on Friday after the Court of Appeal ruling. Thousands had attended protests against the hotel and counter-demonstrations there over the summer.

Meanwhile, the Times reported that it understood at least 13 councils planned on pressing ahead with legal action.

In his ruling on Friday, Lord Justice Bean said the High Court’s decision to award the injunction was “seriously flawed in principle” and had failed to consider the consequence of relocating 138 asylum seekers who would have been forced to leave The Bell Hotel by 12 September.

He also said it was “worrying” that the council’s legal team cited protests outside the hotel as a reason it was seeking the original injunction.

Lord Justice Bean said in his ruling: “If an outbreak of protest enhances a case, this runs the risk of acting as an impetus for further protests – some of which may be disorderly – around asylum accommodation.”

“There is a risk of encouraging further lawlessness.”

The protests began after an asylum seeker housed at the hotel was arrested and subsequently charged with several offences, including the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl. Hadush Kebatu denies the offences and has been on trial.

The chief executive of the Refugee Council said the Court of Appeal’s ruling did not “solve the problems we’re facing”.

Enver Solomon told Breakfast on Saturday: “It doesn’t address the fact that the taxpayer is having to pay millions of pounds a day for hotels, and those that are in the hotels feel they’ve got a target on their back.”

He said the government had to “move much faster” to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers – which it has committed to do by 2029 – and suggested it put a plan in place “to close hotels in the coming months”.

He added: “Our view is that we shouldn’t be using hotels. They have become a flashpoint for community concern, but also for far-right targeting as well.”

Border Security and Asylum Minister Dame Angela Eagle said after the ruling that the government would “stop using hotels, which aren’t a sustainable solution, by the end of this Parliament”.

“This judgement assists us by allowing us to do that in a planned and orderly fashion”.