Labour-run councils including Wirral and Tamworth are considering high court injunctions to remove people from hotels housing asylum seekers after a Conservative-run Epping Forest authority won a temporary injunction at the Bell Hotel. The Home Office minister Dan Jarvis said the government is considering alternative options, including former military sites, if councils secure successful challenges. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is determined to close asylum hotels by the end of the parliament and treats the Epping judgment as narrow. Ministers are reluctant to detail alternatives because of concerns about those plans being used by the far right. Wirral's leader expressed concerns about placement without consultation and planning compliance.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, is determinedto stick to her plan after the Epping ruling and its consequences, a source said. We have a plan and we're sticking to it to close asylum hotels by the end of the parliament. This is one narrow court judgment that happened yesterday. We're not being knocked off course, this is our manifesto commitment, the source said.
Like many other local authorities, we have concerns about the Home Office's practice of placing asylum seekers in hotels without consultation or regard to local planning requirements. We are actively considering all options available to us to ensure that any use of hotels or other premises in Wirral is lawful and does not ride roughshod over planning regulations or the wishes of our communities.
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