Extraordinary meeting to debate asylum accommodation issues
26 August 2025
Councillors will debate the current use of three hotels in West Northamptonshire as asylum accommodation at an extraordinary meeting of the Council taking place next month.
A special meeting of West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 16 September to consider the following motion proposed by Cllr Daniel Lister:
"Following the judgement of Mr Justice Eyre on 19 August, granting Epping Forest District Council an injunction to prevent the inappropriate use of the Bell Hotel in its district as an asylum seeker centre, this Council resolves to instruct, without delay, suitably qualified legal counsel to represent West Northamptonshire Council in seeking an interim injunction against the owners of the Ibis Hotel, Crick, the Holiday Inn, Flore, and the MK Hotel, Deanshanger, to prevent their use as asylum seeker centres. Council further calls upon all members to support this motion."
The request for an extraordinary meeting was accepted by WNC’s Monitoring Officer under the rules of the Council’s Constitution, having been seconded and then supported by a further five councillors.
The meeting, which can only debate the proposed motion by Cllr Lister, will take place in Northampton’s Guildhall on Tuesday, 16 September at 5pm. It is in addition to the scheduled meeting of Full Council due to take place nine days later on 25 September.
In light of the Epping Forest District Council High Court ruling, the Council was already actively reviewing the legal evidence and information it holds as part of preparing a robust case against the use of the three hotels, which are commissioned by the Home Office for asylum accommodation. It is important that the Council has strong evidence similar to that presented in the Epping Forest case to ensure the chances of its success in future legal action, and given the potential significant cost to taxpayers.
"We fully understand the concerns of our residents and fellow councillors about the use of these hotels as asylum accommodation and our Council had already started the work to see if it has a robust legal case like Epping’s. It is important to remember that previous actions to seek an injunction on the basis of planning breaches have, until now, not been successful and legal action is very costly to our taxpayers. It would therefore be irresponsible for the Council to apply to the court to seek an injunction without knowing first we have the evidence for a successful outcome. “I welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues publicly with fellow members in the Council Chamber.” - Councillor Mark Arnull, Leader of the Council