Home Office seeks to appeal against court ruling on asylum hotel

Kate WhannelPolitical reporterPA MediaThe authorities is searching for the fitting to enchantment in opposition to a Excessive Courtroom ruling which blocks asylum seekers being housed in an Essex lodge.Earlier this week, Epping Forest District Council was granted a brief injunction to cease individuals being positioned on the Bell Lodge in Epping.The court docket refused a last-minute effort from Residence Secretary Yvette Cooper to intervene and get the council’s case dismissed.If profitable in its new bid to be concerned, the federal government is then anticipated to contemplate an extra enchantment in opposition to the ruling itself.Residence Secretary Yvette Cooper mentioned the federal government was dedicated to closing all asylum motels, however mentioned it wanted to occur in “a correctly managed manner”.She mentioned the federal government had been working to do it “as a part of an orderly, deliberate and sustained programme that avoids merely creating issues for different areas or native councils because of piecemeal court docket selections or a return to the sort of chaos which led to so many motels being opened within the first place”.”That’s the reason for the Residence Workplace enchantment on this case, to make sure that going ahead, the closure of all motels might be finished in a correctly managed manner proper throughout the nation.”A senior Residence Workplace supply mentioned it was a matter of “democracy” and that the judiciary shouldn’t be capable of inform the federal government the place it may well and may’t place asylum seekers.As well as, Somani Motels, the proprietor of the Bell Lodge, will enchantment in opposition to the court docket order blocking the usage of the lodge as lodging for asylum seekers, the corporate’s solicitors mentioned.Chris Whitbread, chief of Epping council, has beforehand mentioned he would “discover the cash” to combat an enchantment, if the federal government selected to deliver one.One asylum seeker dwelling on the lodge has informed the BBC the federal government ought to shut the motels and let asylum seekers work to allow them to help themselves.In latest weeks, hundreds of individuals have gathered close to the Bell Lodge in Epping, Essex to protest after an asylum seeker dwelling there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old woman within the city.Bringing its case, Epping Council argued that the presence of the lodge “poses a transparent danger of additional escalating neighborhood tensions already at a excessive, and the chance of irreparable hurt to the area people”.Earlier than the judgement was handed down, the Residence Workplace requested to intervene within the case, warning that the court docket’s resolution may “considerably influence” its means to deal with asylum seekers in motels throughout the UK.The court docket dominated in favour of Epping Council and mentioned the 140 asylum seekers must depart the lodge by 16:00 BST on 12 September.For the reason that ruling, greater than half a dozen councils have mentioned they had been contemplating taking comparable authorized motion.Protests and counter-protests are anticipated to happen exterior motels throughout the nation over the approaching days. The federal government is legally-bound to search out houses for asylum seekers who would in any other case be destitute whereas they look forward to a choice to be made on their asylum declare.Rising numbers of asylum seekers coming to the UK has led to a larger use of motels for lodging.Figures launched by the federal government on Thursday revealed that the variety of asylum seekers being housed in motels had reached 32,059 – an 8% improve within the 12 months since Labour got here to energy however down on the 2023 peak.The variety of asylum purposes within the 12 months to June reached a brand new file of 111,000. Conservative shadow residence secretary Chris Philp mentioned the Residence Workplace’s resolution to hunt to enchantment in opposition to the closure of the Bell Lodge was “fully fallacious”. “As an alternative of making an attempt to maintain unlawful immigrants in costly motels the Conservatives would instantly deport all unlawful arrivals and guarantee cities like Epping are by no means put on this place once more.”