Charities and law firms have launched urgent judicial-review applications against the Home Office after the department ordered the closure of 20 asylum-seeker hotels at the end of June and began relocating residents with as little as 24 hours’ notice. Reporting by the Guardian on 14 July details cases of families with severe medical needs being moved hundreds of miles, sometimes arriving to accommodation with no wheelchair access or refrigeration for critical medicine. Deputy High Court judge John Halford has granted permission for a full hearing on whether the Home Secretary failed to assess individual vulnerabilities, calling the claim “arguable on adequacy grounds”. Lawyers argue the policy breaches the government’s own Equality Impact Assessment and could contravene Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights if it leads to inhuman treatment. While framed as an asylum-support issue, the dispute has clear mobility implications. The government’s pledge to end hotel use by December 2026 underpins its promise to reduce the asylum support bill by £1 billion a year—savings that partly fund the new Immigration Appeals Authority. If the courts compel more bespoke assessments, closure timelines and cost savings could slip, affecting Home Office budgets and potentially delaying investment in faster visa processing promised to business. Employers hosting community-sponsorship refugees should note that sudden relocations can disrupt schooling and health care, increasing the support companies might need to provide. HR teams should stay alert for employees volunteering in affected communities who may require flexible leave as legal proceedings unfold.
Source: The Guardian
