Yvette Cooper will prevent judges from hearing appeals from rejected asylum seekers as part of government plans to clear the claims backlog more quickly.
The home secretary will set up a new system of “professional adjudicators” to hear cases brought by people who have had their asylum claims turned down as the government looks for ways to process tens of thousands of cases.
The proposals, which were first reported by the Sunday Times, have been worked on for months but are being accelerated in the wake of a legal ruling that will force the government to rehouse 138 asylum seekers from the Bell hotel in Epping within days.
Other councils, including councils controlled by Labour, are bringing similar cases of their own, sparking concern in Whitehall about a sudden crisis in migrant accommodation.
Cooper said: “We are determined to substantially reduce the number of people in the asylum system as part of our plan to end asylum hotels … But we cannot carry on with these completely unacceptable delays in appeals as a result of the system we have inherited which means that failed asylum seekers stay in the system for years on end at huge cost to the taxpayer.”
She promised the government would overhaul the appeals system so that it was “swift, fair and independent, with high standards in place”.
This weekend, there has been another spate of protests outside hotels in towns and cities across the country after weeks of demonstrations outside the Bell, which began after an asylum seeker living there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Rallies were held this weekend in places including Bristol, Liverpool, Newcastle, Wakefield and Aberdeen, and at least 15 people were arrested. The Guardian revealed on Friday that the far-right Homeland party had been trying to organise several demonstrations.
Ministers face both public and legal pressure to find an alternative to hotel accommodation for asylum seekers around the country.
The new appeals system is designed to finalise claims more quickly by cutting down the lengthy court process that often follows a person’s status being refused.
Under the current system, people who have had their claims turned down can appeal to a tribunal judge. If refused once more, they can appeal again to a higher tribunal, which will assess only if the lower court made a legal mistake.
The government has already set a 24-week limit on appeals being heard but officials say cases are still taking an average of 53 weeks.
Under Cooper’s proposals, the government will set up a new commission with statutory powers to hear appeals. It will be given permission to prioritise the claims of people who are living in government-funded accommodation and foreign offenders with deportation orders.
The Home Office released figures last week showing that a record 110,000 asylum applications were made in the year to June. But the government is processing claims more quickly, with 71,000 cases awaiting an initial decision, down from a peak of 134,000 cases at the end of June 2023.
There are 32,059 asylum seekers living in hotels – more than when Labour came to power, but below a peak of 56,000 in September 2023.
