Home Office abandons plan to house asylum seekers in Yorkshire village following council judicial review threat

The Home Office has decided not to accommodate asylum seekers on a closed RAF base in the Yorkshire village of Linton-on-Ouse following a judicial review threat from Hambleton District Council.

The local authority announced its intention to mount legal action in April, claiming that there had been a "lack of consultation" from the Government on the plans.

The council then sent a pre-action protocol letter to the Home Office in an attempt to secure information about the plan in order to "properly respond to the proposal, assess service, community and financial implications, and take relevant action".

At the same time, the council served a Planning Contravention Notice on the Home Office.

In July of this year, the council gave an update on the litigation, noting that its legal team was assessing the Home Office's response to the pre-action letter.

It added that the Home Office had told the council that it would provide a 14-day notice should the Government decide to move asylum seekers onto the site.

Last week, council leader, Cllr Mark Robson, announced that it had received a response from the Home Office informing it of its decision not to progress the proposals for the use of the site as asylum accommodation.

"This follows news in August that the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Defence had made a decision to withdraw its offer for the use of the site. Our legal work on this issue will now be drawn to a close", Cllr Robson said.

He added: "It is an excellent outcome for the residents of Linton-on-Ouse and all those living in the surrounding areas as well as for Hambleton District Council, all of which fought hard to oppose these plans.

"I believe that had we as a council not intervened with this proposal and challenged the Government when we were first made aware of it, there would have been asylum seekers living on this totally unsuitable site."

A spokesperson for the Home Office who confirmed its decision to abandon the plan, said: "The Government remains committed to overhauling the broken asylum system to stop UK taxpayers spending more than £5m every day accommodating asylum seekers in hotels. The asylum system costs the UK more than £2bn every year overall which is completely unsustainable for the public's finances."

According to the Home Office, the Government will continue to identify appropriate sites for asylum accommodation.

Adam Carey