The High Court on Friday dismissed attempts by an Essex council to prevent the use of a former military base to house 1,700 male asylum seekers, clearing the way for the UK government to pursue similar plans elsewhere unimpeded, pending the call.
In his ruling, Judge Waksman accepted the Home Office’s case for describing a projected record of up to 140,000 asylum seekers in need of housing by the end of this year as an emergency national.
He also agreed with the home office that the court had no jurisdiction over the planning rules for the former RAF base at Wethersfield because it was Crown land, despite its change of use.
The decision was closely watched by councils who oppose the government’s plan to move thousands of asylum seekers from hotels to refurbished prisons, former military bases and to floating barges.
The government said it was spending around £6.2million a day to accommodate asylum seekers in hotels.
The relocation policy is an important part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s aim to make the UK less attractive to asylum seekers in order to deter people crossing the country in small boats across the English Channel.
Although the decision is a bitter pill to swallow for authorities in Lincolnshire, Dorset, East Sussex and Liverpool, where Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, has similar plans, the judge cleared the council de Braintree to appeal the decision, recommending that the case be “expedited”.
Home Office officials told the court a record 56,000 people are expected to cross the Channel in small boats this year, up from more than 45,000 in 2022, suggesting they don’t think although stricter legislation has been effective as a deterrent.
It would be the government’s legal duty to prevent between 120,000 and 140,000 asylum seekers from falling into homelessness and destitution by the end of the year, they argued.
This was due to the huge backlog in processing asylum applications and pressure on the system from housing constraints for Ukrainian and Afghan refugees, they said.
Waksman backed the Home Office’s case that the situation constituted an emergency, allowing the government to override normal planning rules for 12 months.
He also rejected local arguments about the lack of public services and access to the area for the number of asylum seekers the Home Office intends to house there.
The council’s case was backed by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, MP for Braintree in Essex, and former Home Secretary Priti Patel, MP for the neighboring constituency of Witham.
Representatives of a local Wethersfield campaign group present at the hearing were furious with the outcome. David Price of the group said the government’s plans were very “unconservative” because they did not follow normal planning procedures.
“It’s not about the immigrants, it’s about the relevance of the site. This is the biggest attempt in 30 years by the central government to seize power and overthrow democratic processes in this country,” he said.
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