Andy Burnham says the way hotels are used to house asylum seekers is 'not acceptable' and 'real change' is necessary. 

His comments come after the High Court ruled on Tuesday (August 20) asylum seekers could not be housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping following a legal challenge by Epping Forest District Council. Current residents of the hotel must be removed by September 12.

It's thought councils across the country are preparing their own legal challenges, with two authorities in Greater Manchester which have hotels saying they will 'assess the implications' of the judgement.

The mayor has blessed the Home Office for how it has handled procuring hotels for asylum seekers, branding it as 'not acceptable'.

"The scandalous thing is the way in which the Home Office has dismissed those concerns and ran roughshod over local councils," he told BBC Radio Manchester on Thursday (August 21). "Often you would get a day or two's notification. That's not good enough."

He also called for 'real change' of the system.

"The court ruling is a moment where this thing the Home Office has never done properly needs to change," Mr Burnham continued.

"I have spoken to ministers in the Home Office and they have been on with that change. It needs to be accelerated.

"We have been calling for equitable distribution around the country. That's not been the case.

"The Home Office has done it on the cheap. Working with the private sector they have bought up property or done deals with hotels all of which is done from an office in London with no real consultation with people and they leave local councils to deal with that.

"It's not acceptable and it's never been acceptable under any government. The court ruling, in my view, should bring real change."

The border security minister, Angela Eagle MP, said the government will 'close all asylum hotels' in the next few years.

She said: "This Government inherited a broken asylum system, at the peak there were over 400 hotels open.

"We will continue working with local authorities and communities to address legitimate concerns. Our work continues to close all asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament.

"We will carefully consider this judgment. As this matter remains subject to ongoing legal proceedings it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage."

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