The asylum appeals backlog has soared nearly 500 per cent in just two years with almost 42,000 waiting for decisions.
Failed asylum seekers awaiting appeal decisions have reached 41,987 by the end of 2024, blocking efforts to move migrants from hotels.
The backlog has risen by nearly a quarter since September alone.
Ministers are planning to change the law to introduce a mandatory 24-week legal deadline for all asylum appeals to be heard.
Each appeal is currently taking an average of 46 weeks, leaving tens of thousands of migrants in limbo waiting for final decisions
PA
This would halve the current timeframe for appeals in the first-tier immigration and asylum tribunal courts.
Home Office sources blame the large appeals backlog for clogging up migrant hotels. The asylum appeals backlog has grown dramatically from just 7,133 at the start of 2023.
There were 38,079 asylum seekers in hotels by the end of last year, more than 8,000 higher than when Labour entered power in July.
The Refugee Council has forecast that it will cost taxpayers nearly £1.5 billion this year if the numbers being housed in hotels do not fall.
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There were 38,079 asylum seekers in hotels by the end of last year, more than 8,000 higher than when Labour entered power in July
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The charity has issued a five-point plan to speed up the processing of claims and appeals to end hotel use. Reducing hotel occupancy by 3,000 monthly would halve costs this year.
Labour’s efforts to tackle the appeals backlog include a £20million package to increase legal aid fees for lawyers representing asylum seekers.
The increase will raise fees by 10 per cent to £65 per hour and £69 in London. However, these changes won’t take effect until the end of this year.
Each appeal is currently taking an average of 46 weeks, leaving tens of thousands of migrants in limbo waiting for final decisions.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, plans to amend the Border Security bill to introduce a statutory 24-week timeframe for courts to decide appeals.
The move aims to force courts to prioritise asylum appeals when listing cases.
The spike in appeals backlog has been caused by a significant drop in asylum grant rates, down to 47 per cent last year.
This represents a sharp decline from 67 per cent in 2023 and 75 per cent in 2022.
Afghan asylum seekers have faced a major reduction, with only four in 10 granted asylum in late 2024.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said the party would be tabling a plan to stop the Human Rights Act from applying to immigration within weeks
PA
The appeals backlog has also been driven by Labour’s efforts to clear the initial claims backlog, which stood at 90,686 at the end of last year.
Productivity hit a peak in November, with 11,810 initial asylum claims processed, up from 2,000 per month during the election campaign. This drove a doubling of initial decisions in the last quarter of 2024.
Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “We welcome the government’s continued attempt to remedy a broken asylum system, but more needs to be done to ensure right first-time decision making. So a new growing backlog is not created in a different part of the system.”
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said the party would be tabling a plan to stop the Human Rights Act from applying to immigration within weeks.
“Labour has lost control of our borders with illegal channel crossings up 28 per cent since the election and the worst ever start to a year in 2025,” he added.
A government spokesman said: “The asylum system we inherited was not fit for purpose, which is why we are taking urgent action to restart asylum processing and clear the backlog of cases.
“This will save the taxpayer an estimated £4bn over the next two years, and we remain determined to end the use of asylum hotels over time.”