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20
Aug
North Yorkshire Reform UK councillors urge legal action to stop asylum seekers being housed in hotels
North Yorkshire’s two Reform UK councillors have written to council leader Carl Les, urging him to take legal steps against the Home Office’s use of hotels in the county to house what they call “illegal migrants”.
The move comes after Epping Forest Council in Essex was granted a temporary High Court injunction blocking asylum seekers from being housed in a local hotel.
In a letter to Cllr Les, also signed by Cllr Mike Jordan (Camblesforth and Carlton), Cllr Tom Seston (Eastfield) writes:
I am writing to urge you, as leader of North Yorkshire Council, to take immediate steps towards launching a legal challenge against the Home Office’s continued use of hotels in our county to house illegal migrants — a practice that is placing a substantial amount of risk and pressure on communities.
Although Cllr Seston refers to “illegal migrants”, asylum seekers are not necessarily in the country illegally. Asylum is protection given by a country to someone fleeing from persecution in their own country. Some asylum seekers may have entered the UK without permission, but many do so through legal means, and seeking asylum is legal under international law.
Cllr Seston continues:
The recent legal action initiated by Epping Forest District Council sets a clear precedent that councils can and should challenge these placements when they are made without proper local consultation or consideration of community impact.
Epping’s case demonstrates that local authorities do have grounds to push back when central government acts unilaterally.
Following the ruling this week, Reform UK has said that all 10 of the English councils it controls will “do everything in their power to follow Epping's lead”.
Impact of ruling
Home Office lawyers have said that the Epping Forest ruling could "substantially impact" the government's ability to house the 32,000 asylum seekers living in 210 hotels across the UK if other councils do follow suit.
Nevertheless, the government has pledged to no longer house asylum seekers in hotels by the end of this parliament.
Cllr Seston added:
North Yorkshire Council should not sit idly by while others move decisively to protect their local areas. We must stand up for the interests of our residents and take a firm stance on issues that affect community cohesion, public safety, and the effective delivery of local services.
Hotels in North Yorkshire
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council where in North Yorkshire – and more specifically the Harrogate district – asylum seekers are being temporarily housed, what kind of accommodation is being used, and whether North Yorkshire Council has any plans to follow Epping Forest's lead.
North Yorkshire Council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, replied in a statement:
As a council we have been comfortable with the Home Office use of the Allerton Court Hotel in Northallerton as a place of temporary refuge for asylum seeking families and single women. These families and single women remain welcome.
However, we have been clear with government that we do have concerns should they have plans to use the hotel to house numbers of single males. Our view is that this would be entirely inappropriate in the town location.
If the Home Office were to seek to change the use of the hotel from families to single males in this town-based location, we would look at all options, including potential legal action.
We are reaffirming our position on this specific matter to government.
The Stray Ferret knows of no government plans to accommodate single male asylum seekers in the hotel.
North Yorkshire Council declined to provide any information about the number of asylum seekers in the county or details of what kind of accommodation they are being housed in.
A council spokesperson advised us to approach the Home Office directly for any further information, so we did.
But the Home Office spokesperson we spoke to could not provide any comment on matters in North Yorkshire and referred us instead to national data on asylum seeker numbers on the Home Office website.
In 2024, asylum applications reached a record high of 108,100. About a third of all applications are refused.
In 2024, the most common origin of asylum seekers was Pakistan, followed by Afghanistan.
The UK grants asylum to fewer people per head of population than do half of the countries in the European Union.
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