Staffordshire council reviewing legal position after asylum hotel case

Now Carol Dean, the leader of Labour-run Tamworth Borough Council, says the ruling represents a ‘potentially important legal precedent’ which could have consequences in Staffordshire. The Holiday Inn in Tamworth has been used to accommodate asylum seekers since 2022, and last summer the hotel was targeted by anti-migrant rioters.

The borough council previously explored taking legal action to stop the Holiday Inn being used by the Home Office, but ultimately decided against this due to the failure of similar cases elsewhere. Figures from March show that there were 165 asylum seekers in hotel accommodation in Tamworth. There were also 145 in hotels in Stoke-on-Trent, and 66 in South Staffordshire.

Cllr Dean said the council would now review its position following the Epping Forest case.

She said: “I understand the strong feelings within our community regarding the use of the Holiday Inn to house those seeking asylum, and I want to reassure residents that we are listening to their concerns and taking them seriously. Nationally Labour came to power just over a year ago. The use of hotels has halved from 402 at their peak to 210 now, with a national pledge to end the use of asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament. However, following the temporary High Court injunction granted to Epping Forest District Council, we are closely monitoring developments and reviewing our legal position in light of this significant ruling.

“I want to be transparent with our community – when the Home Office first began using the hotel in 2022, we did explore similar legal avenues. However, we did not pursue this route at the time because temporary injunctions, while initially granted in other cases nationally, were not ultimately upheld by the courts.

“The situation at Epping Forest represents a potentially important legal precedent, and we are carefully assessing what this might mean for our circumstances here in Tamworth. We fully recognise the UK government has a statutory duty to accommodate people seeking asylum. However, we have consistently maintained that the prolonged use of hotel accommodation may not represent the best approach – either for our local community or for the asylum seekers themselves.”

Cllr Dean said the borough council would continue to ‘work constructively’ with the government, and that its priority would be the safety and wellbeing of ‘all people in Tamworth’.

The Epping Forest ruling followed weeks of protests near the Bell Hotel, after an asylum seeker living there had been charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Epping Forest District Council argued that the use of the hotel to house migrants was a breach of planning rules and a public safety risk.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage welcomed the High Court ruling and said councils run by his party, including Staffordshire County Council, would look at taking similar action. But legal action based on a planning breach would be the responsibility of the districts and boroughs in Staffordshire, rather than the county council.

County council leader Ian Cooper said: “We welcome this ruling and will be in contact with our district and borough council partners to explore what options this now gives us in Staffordshire. The control and protection of our country’s borders is a national issue, but the impact of central government policy is felt in communities across Staffordshire. I have already written to the Home Secretary on this issue, stating that the ongoing use of hotels for the purpose of asylum is unacceptable and poses a serious risk to local communities as well as the residents themselves.”

South Staffordshire Council says it has not discussed taking legal action in relation to asylum hotels. Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been approached for comment.