📍 London, UK — August 24, 2025

In a landmark move aimed at restoring efficiency to Britain’s asylum infrastructure, the UK government has announced sweeping reforms to its tribunal system, introducing a new independent body dedicated to fast-tracking asylum appeal decisions.

The initiative, jointly led by the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, seeks to address a backlog of over 106,000 cases—more than 51,000 of which are asylum-related—currently pending before the First-Tier Tribunal. Average wait times have reached 53 weeks, contributing to prolonged taxpayer-funded accommodation and delayed deportations.

The newly proposed adjudication body will operate independently of government, staffed by professionally trained adjudicators with statutory powers to prioritize appeals from asylum-supported individuals and foreign national offenders. Ministers say the current tribunal framework lacks the flexibility to meet surging demand, despite increased funding and expanded court sitting days.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper MP emphasized the urgency of reform, citing the inherited system’s inefficiencies and the financial burden of asylum hotels, which peaked at over 400 facilities in 2023, costing nearly £9 million daily. That number has since been halved, with improved hotel management reportedly cutting costs by 11%.

The reforms also introduce a legal mandate requiring asylum appeals to be resolved within 24 weeks for specific categories. Further fast-track mechanisms for applicants from designated safe countries are expected to be unveiled this autumn.

Officials say the UK is drawing lessons from European counterparts with more agile appeal systems, including those that operate outside traditional judicial structures.

These changes form part of a broader strategy to reduce the asylum backlog, expedite returns, and phase out hotel-based accommodation—marking one of the most significant structural shifts in UK asylum policy in recent decades.