The Home Secretary has revealed plans for a radical overhaul of Britain’s asylum appeal system that would compress decision-making timelines from months to just weeks, as the Government battles to reduce a backlog of 91,000 cases and escalating accommodation costs.
Yvette Cooper told The Sunday Times that Labour is planning a “major overhaul” of the appeals process, with a new fast-track scheme designed to turn around asylum appeal decisions within weeks rather than the current lengthy delays. The announcement comes as tensions over asylum accommodation reached boiling point in recent weeks, with violent protests erupting outside hotels housing asylum seekers across England.
“If we speed up the decision-making appeal system and also then keep increasing returns, we hope to be able to make quite a big reduction in the overall numbers in the asylum system, because that is the best way to actually restore order and control,” Cooper said.
The scheme would aim to compress the entire process so that decisions and returns could be “made within weeks”, a Home Office source told the newspaper. The initiative forms part of a broader strategy to tackle Britain’s asylum crisis, which has seen record numbers of small boat arrivals and spiralling accommodation costs.
Record Channel Crossings Intensify Pressure
The Government faces mounting pressure as more than 25,000 small boat migrants have arrived in Britain after crossing the English Channel so far in 2025, marking a record for this point in the year. In the 12 months to March 2025, there were 38,023 people detected arriving by small boats, representing a 22 per cent increase compared to the previous year.
The asylum backlog, whilst down 31 per cent from its 2022 peak, still stands at approximately 91,000 applications awaiting decisions. More troublingly, an additional appeals backlog has grown rapidly in the courts, reaching 42,000 applications by the end of 2024. The Migration Observatory at Oxford University notes that whilst progress has been made, the system remains under severe strain from record applications and slow decision-making processes.
Cooper had previously outlined her vision for the fast-track system during testimony to the Home Affairs committee in June. “We should be able to take those decisions really fast, be able to take those decisions, make sure that they go through the appeals system really fast and then also make sure they are returned really quickly as well,” she told MPs.
The Home Secretary emphasised that the scheme would operate alongside the main asylum system and would particularly target applicants from countries considered safe. “That would mean a fast-track system alongside the main asylum system, I think that would be really important in terms of making sure that the system is fair,” she said, adding that the reforms would require new legislation and system design.
Chancellor Pledges End to Hotel Accommodation
In a related development, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced during her spending review in June that the Government would end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by 2029, describing it as “the choice of the British people. The commitment could save taxpayers £1 billion annually, with the Government having spent £3.1 billion on hotel accommodation for asylum seekers during 2023-24 alone.
Currently, around 32,345 asylum seekers are housed in hotels across Britain, down from a peak of 56,042 in September 2023. The Chancellor said additional funding would be allocated to cut the asylum backlog, hear more appeal cases, and return people with no right to remain in the UK.
“The party opposite left behind a broken system: billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money spent on housing asylum seekers in hotels, leaving people in limbo and shunting the cost of failure onto local communities. We won’t let that stand,” Reeves told MPs.
The Government has also announced funding of up to £280 million per year by the end of the spending review period for the new Border Security Command, which will work to tackle smuggling gangs and strengthen border controls.
Crackdown on People Smugglers
As part of its comprehensive approach to the asylum crisis, the Home Office revealed that anyone advertising Channel crossings or fake passports on social media could face up to five years in prison under new plans to crack down on migrant-smuggling gangs.
Ministers are seeking to create a new offence under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, currently progressing through Parliament. The proposed measure would criminalise posting content online that encourages someone to break UK immigration law in exchange for financial incentives, including promises of illegal working opportunities.
Dame Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, said: “We are working to close hotels, restore order, and put fairness and value for money at the heart of our asylum system.”
Community Tensions Reach Breaking Point
The urgency of reform has been underscored by violent protests at asylum hotels across the country. The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, became a flashpoint for tensions last month, resulting in 25 arrests after demonstrations escalated into what police described as “mindless thuggery.
Eight police officers were injured during the unrest, with missiles thrown at police vehicles and property damaged. The protests began after an asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault following an alleged incident involving a 14-year-old girl. Similar demonstrations occurred outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in north London and in Newcastle on Saturday, August 2.
Essex Police Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington condemned the violence, stating: “What has been unacceptable has been the people who have come to Epping and committed violence. Who have attacked people who work at the hotel, who have attacked officers, who have damaged property and who have caused fear and disruption to the people of Epping.”
Local councils have called for immediate action, with Epping Forest Council unanimously voting to urge the Government to close the Bell Hotel. Council Leader Chris Whitbread said the location was “entirely unsuitable” for housing asylum seekers.
Expert Analysis Points to Systemic Challenges
Immigration experts have warned that whilst the fast-track scheme represents a step forward, significant challenges remain. The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration previously identified multiple factors contributing to declining productivity in asylum decision-making, including shortages of technical specialist staff, low morale amongst decision makers, and the removal of service standards.
Steve Smith, CEO of Care4Calais, welcomed the Government’s commitment but cautioned: “Moving from former commercial hotels to accommodation situated within communities would be welcome, but what the government really needs to end is the for-profit asylum accommodation model that has created billionaires.”
The Refugee Council’s CEO, Enver Solomon, whilst supporting the initiative, noted: “The deadline of 2029 feels far away and we urge government to make it happen before then. People arriving in search of safety should be housed within our communities, not isolated in remote hotels.”
Legislative Requirements and Implementation Timeline
Cooper confirmed that implementing the fast-track system would require new legislation, stating: “That will require legislation in order to be able to do that, as well as a new system design.” The Government plans to introduce these reforms in the autumn, though specific legislative timelines remain unclear.
The scheme appears designed to operate similarly to previous fast-track processes used for specific nationalities with high grant rates. Between 2022 and 2023, the Home Office operated a Streamlined Asylum Process for citizens of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, which relied on questionnaires rather than face-to-face interviews.
However, critics have raised concerns about the quality of decisions made under pressure to clear backlogs. Free Movement’s analysis suggests that the emphasis on fast decision-making may come at the cost of accuracy, potentially exacerbating the already substantial asylum appeals backlog in tribunals.
What Happens Next
The Government faces a complex balancing act as it attempts to reform the asylum system whilst managing community tensions and fiscal pressures. Key challenges include recruiting sufficient judges and legal representatives to handle the increased pace of decisions and appeals, upgrading IT systems to support faster processing, and finding alternative accommodation solutions as hotels are phased out.
The Home Office has already increased its asylum decision-making staff to over 1,000 and claims to have simplified the interview process and reduced staff attrition by 30 per cent. However, with 85,112 asylum applications received in the year to March 2025, representing a 15 per cent increase from the previous year, the pressure on the system continues to intensify.
As Cooper’s reforms take shape, their success will likely depend on whether the Government can deliver its promise of swift, fair decisions whilst maintaining community cohesion and managing the complex logistics of housing and returning unsuccessful applicants. With public patience wearing thin and costs mounting, the stakes for getting these reforms right could hardly be higher.
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