Plans for third asylum seeker hotel in Torbay
The Council are now seeking a judicial review
Torbay Council says it is going seek a judicial review over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers in the area.
The authority says it was told on Monday that due diligence had been completed on a third hotel in its area. They have since been told that the use of the hotel is being paused whilst a decision of the Home Office is awaited.
They say this information was not received, in the first instance, from the Home Office or from their contractors Clearsprings Ready Homes.
As a result, the council issued a second pre-proceedings letter to the Home Office through their solicitors. The letter requested that a third hotel is not brought into operation until the Home Office responds and the council has had the opportunity to consider their response.
The Home Office have responded to both pre-proceedings letter and discussions were held on Monday on the potential next steps.
These will be that the council will not apply for an interim injunction against the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers but will instead issue instructions to seek a Judicial Review of the decision of the Home Secretary to use the hotels in Torquay as accommodation for asylum seekers on three grounds. These are:
- The council had a legitimate expectation from the Home Office that no further hotels would be used in the Torbay area
- The Home Office failed to consider the planning position, in particular the location of the hotel(s) within a Core Tourism Investment Area
- The Home Office failed to consider the significant impact of children’s services caused by the use of the existing hotel for accommodating asylum seekers
Kevin Mowat, Deputy Chief Executive at Torbay Council, said: "On the morning of 15 November, we received confirmation from Clearsprings Ready Homes that due diligence on a third hotel had been completed and that they proposed to go live with it today. We have since had notification that the use of the hotel is being paused whilst a decision of the Home Office is awaited.
"We are continuing to work with Clearsprings Ready Homes and their managers within the two hotels in operation to ensure appropriate support is in place for those currently staying at the hotels. We will also continue to ask questions and to inform the Home Office about the impact that these hotels are having on our services and the Bay."