Two more local authorities apply for interim injunctions to stop housing of asylum seekers in hotels

North Northamptonshire Council and Fenland District Council have become the latest local authorities to apply to the High Court to block hotels in their areas being used to accommodate asylum seekers.

North Northamptonshire has taken the action over the Home Office’s plans to use the Royal Hotel in Kettering. It said a proposal to accommodate asylum seekers there was brought to its  attention on 27 October 2022 and the council was provided with further details including a mobilisation date on 3 November.

The council said the aim of applying to the High Court was “to stop the proposal and allow time to assess suitable alternative locations”.

It added that it was “keen to support the accommodation of asylum seekers within the area, but feels that it is important that the location and accommodation is suitable for the purpose and that sufficient time is provided to properly consider issues of safety and the health of all parties concerned”.

Cllr Jason Smithers, Leader of North Northamptonshire, said: “North Northamptonshire Council takes its responsibility to asylum seekers very seriously. The council has previously offered to have discussions with the Home Office to help identify suitable hotels in the area.

“However, the Royal Hotel in Kettering is not an appropriate place to accommodate asylum seekers for a number of reasons. We do not feel the proposals have been properly considered to ensure the best possible service can be provided to asylum seekers and the local communities in which they are housed. I felt it was important to take action which was a decision we have not taken lightly.”

Fenland District Council meanwhile applied to the High Court in a bid to prevent an historic Wisbech hotel from being used to house asylum seekers.

It filed an application for an interim injunction after learning that the Rose and Crown Hotel in Wisbech Market Place had secured a Home Office contract to accommodate people seeking asylum.

On Friday (4 November), Fenland had said it would be prepared to take legal action amid growing concerns that the sudden closure of the hotel on Friday afternoon was an indication that it was preparing to accept asylum seekers.

The council was subsequently informed by Serco, the contractor which runs the Home Office's asylum seeker operation, of its Rose and Crown plans late on Friday evening. The local authority said it had been working on its legal case over the weekend.

Fenland claimed that the change of the hotel to use as a hostel was a breach of planning law and the harm arising from such a breach was significant.

“Due to the substantial risk of harm, which is unable to be mitigated, and potential suffering of the asylum seekers”, it argued that the hotel was “a wholly unsuitable place to house vulnerable people”.

The district council also claimed that it was “disappointing” that Serco failed to notify it of its plans earlier to enable any form of discussions regarding locations to take place.

Fenland District Council Leader, Cllr Chris Boden, said: "It is thoroughly irresponsible of the Home Office to consider placing vulnerable people with no recourse to public funding in a town such as Wisbech, without any consultation or any consideration of the impact this will have on the asylum seekers themselves.

"We are in a rural location, with very limited hotel accommodation and transport links, and we already have significant issues with migrant exploitation and human trafficking, which would put any people placed here at risk."

In applying for interim injunctions, North Northamptonshire and Fenland are following in the wake of East Riding of Yorkshire, Ipswich, Stoke-on-Trent and Great Yarmouth councils.

However, a High Court judge, Mr Justice Linden, declined at a hearing last week to extend the interim injunction obtained by Stoke-on-Trent pending any hearing of the local authority’s full claim.

The Home Office has been moving asylum seekers into hotels to ease the load on its processing centres, in particular one based in Manston in Kent.