Hove hotel decision 'watershed moment for child protection'

These were the opening words of High Court judge Sir Mr Justice Chamberlain giving judgement last week in a case brought by Brighton and Hove City Council against the Conservative Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

In a landmark judgement, he went on to find that the Home Secretary’s “systematic” and “routine” use of hotels to accommodate unaccompanied children seeking asylum, including at a notorious hotel here in Hove, was unlawful. Of the children concerned, Mr Justice Chamberlain observed: “All have travelled long distances. Some have been abused or mistreated in their country of origin or on their journey here. Some are victims of human trafficking. Many speak little or no English and are ill-equipped to navigate life as an asylum-seeker in the UK. As a cohort, they are especially vulnerable.”

This is a watershed moment for child protection in the UK. One of my first acts as leader of the council was to authorise this litigation, something I had been speaking with officers about since I was first elected last December. It was clear to me the dangerous use of hotels was putting children at risk. Since the hotel was first used in Brighton and Hove in July 2021, 139 children – approximately five classrooms – have gone missing. Sickeningly, Sussex Police report that 50 of these children still remain missing.

Nationally, at the time of the High Court hearing on the 20th July 154 of the 447 children that have gone missing from the unlawful government hotels across the country over the past two years are in fact still missing. One of the children still missing is as young as 12. No one knows where these children are or whether they are safe and well. As the judge noted, there is evidence that some of the children who went missing from Brighton have been exploited for criminal purposes.

Labour knows how important the council’s role as a corporate parent is. This is not a passive role but an active one that requires leadership and commitment. That is why I took the decision to personally chair our corporate parenting board and why we took decisive action against a government which has abandoned all pretence at child safeguarding.

As well as finding the Home Secretary has been breaking the law for the best part of 18 months, the judgement is significant for three reasons. First, it puts beyond doubt that our child safeguarding laws apply to all children irrespective of race, nationality or immigration status.

Second, it makes clear that the Home Secretary, through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS), has a legally enforceable alternative to keeping children in hotels. For months the government has been making excuses for this situation and pretending that there are insufficient foster care placements. However we know from just some of the data that we’ve seen that many local authorities take far fewer children than required under the NTS. Suella Braverman must now instruct local authorities to take their allocation of children so that these hotels can be emptied and some of the world’s most vulnerable children can be fostered.

Third it makes clear that to run or operate one of the Home Office’s hotels for children puts someone at risk of committing a criminal offence. This should serve as a chilling deterrent in future. And it will be for Sussex Police to investigate whether those involved in the operation Hove hotel have engaged in criminal activity.

Labour’s victory against the Home Office is historic for both our city and our party. It shows not just the values we hold but the action we are willing to take to deliver them.

By contrast, the record of the last Green administration is shameful. They completely ignored my requests to meet to discuss bringing litigation against the Home Office and then in March joined forces with local Conservatives to wreck Labour’s emergency council motion, ripping out the sentence that sought expert legal advice on Brighton and Hove’s options. I remember that day well. Serving and former Green councillors lined up in righteous fury that Labour was holding them to account. They trotted out lots of hot air, one even wept hot tears, but they opposed any meaningful action. On this subject my thanks goes to all the people in Brighton and Hove who recognised the government’s unlawful treatment of these children. Ordinary members of the public who have written to me to express their concern and groups such as Homes Not Hotels who have organised demonstrations. We did this together. And I’m proud to represent a city that protests for the rights of refugees and not against them.