Kemi Badenoch has called on Conservative council leaders "encouraging" them to follow Epping Forest District Council’s footsteps by launching bids to shut asylum hotels.
The Tory leader said council chiefs should launch a legal challenge if their "legal advice supports it."
Epping Forest District Council in Essex, which is Conservative run, secured a High Court temporary injunction this week, blocking the use of a local hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers on planning grounds.
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The Conservative leader told her party’s town hall leaders that whether or not to block a hotel from housing asylum seekers “will depend on individual circumstances of the case."
She continued: "But it is the Labour Government which is trying to ram through such asylum hotels without consultation and without proper process."
A Labour spokesman hit back, calling her letter a "pathetic stunt" and "desperate and hypocritical nonsense from the architects of the broken asylum system."
Conservative leader of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, told Richard Biggs said: "We are studying the judgment with our lawyers to understand it and if a similar action would work for us. We have had some impact and we had a protest outside our hotel in August which was local people having a peaceful protest to express their concerns."
Kemi Badenoch welcomed the plan
| PAHe added that "wider infrastructure has to be considered when determining planning." Leaders at Labour-led authorities in Tamworth and Wirral have said they are considering the High Court’s decision in relation to hotels in their areas.
Staffordshire County Council leader, Reform's Ian Cooper said: “We welcome this ruling and will be in contact with our district and borough council partners to explore what options this now gives us in Staffordshire.
“The control and protection of our country’s borders is a national issue, but the impact of central government policy is felt in communities across Staffordshire.
"I have already written to the Home Secretary on this issue, stating that the ongoing use of hotels for the purpose of asylum is unacceptable and poses a serious risk to local communities as well as the residents themselves."
Kemi Badenoch's letter to Conservative council leaders
|KEMI BADENOCH
Reform UK council leader Linden Kemkaran said she will write to Kent’s district and borough councils to ask if they have “similar facilities” to Epping Forest.
Ms Kemkaran, leader of Kent County Council (KCC) acknowledged that planning and housing decisions are not county council matters, but wants to “support” the district and borough councils in Kent.
She said: “Following the recent High Court ruling granting an interim injunction to Epping Forest District Council, I am writing to all my fellow Leaders in Kent’s 12 districts and boroughs to ask them about any similar facilities operating in their individual areas and the history of planning permissions for these."
“For nearly a decade now, Kent has been on the front line of the migrant crisis. The Government’s lack of a plan to deal with it successfully is putting an unreasonable and unsustainable strain on our already vastly overstretched public services.”
Leader of Labour-run Newcastle City Council, Karen Kilgour, said it will not take legal action over asylum seekers who are housed in hotels in the city.
She said: "Our position remains unchanged. We strongly oppose the use of hotels as accommodation for people seeking asylum. They are not appropriate or sustainable, either for the individuals involved or for the local community.
"As I have previously said, we are in active discussions with the Home Office around how the council can take greater control in the placement of asylum seekers in the city, while ending the use of hotels. We are confident we can achieve this without the need to seek an injunction.
"We recognise that people seeking asylum include families, women, and children, many of whom have faced unimaginable trauma. Newcastle has a proud history of offering sanctuary, and we stand ready to play our part, but it must be done in a way that works for our city and supports the dignity and wellbeing of those who come here."
Brighton and Hove City Council has said that as a "proud city of sanctuary" it will continue to welcome and support asylum seekers.
Jacob Taylor, the local authority’s deputy leader, said: "As a proud city of sanctuary we will always play our role in housing asylum seekers and providing a welcome and support to those fleeing persecution and horrific circumstances which many of us can thankfully only imagine.
"We will not comment on the location of hotels being used by the Home Office to provide temporary accommodation to people seeking asylum.
"I believe to do so in the current climate is irresponsible and risks causing division and unrest in our communities at a time when more than ever we need to bring people together."