The Home Secretary has promised a new fast-track asylum appeals process to speed up the process of removing illegal immigrants amid spiralling protests over asylum seeker hotels.
A new independent panel focused on asylum appeals and using professionally-trained adjudicators rather than judges is planned to reduce a huge backlog in the system.
There are about 51,000 asylum appeals waiting to be heard - taking on average more than a year to reach a decision.
Court delays over appeals are thought to be the biggest cause of pressure in the asylum accommodation system.
The backlog means a growing number of asylum seekers are being put up in temporary accommodation while they await a decision - with the use of hotels becoming a country-wide flashpoint of division and confrontation.
The Home Office data this week revealed there were 32,059 asylum seekers in hotels at the end of June – 8% up from 29,585 in June 2024.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said “completely unacceptable” delays in the appeals process left failed asylum seekers in the system for years.
She told The Sunday Times, which first revealed the plans, that the overhaul would result in a system which is "swift, fair and independent, with high standards in place".
It comes as a wave of weekend protests against the use of hotels and counter-demonstrations continues on Sunday, with one planned to take place in Canary Wharf.
A weekend of division of and confrontation saw scuffles break out in Bristol on Saturday, as mounted police were brought in to separate rival groups and officers clashed with protesters.
A 37-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker.
Avon and Somerset Police said no officer sustained serious physical injury or has required hospital treatment, but inquiries will be carried out after reports of assaults on them.
In Liverpool there were 11 arrests for offences including being drunk and disorderly, assault and affray, as a UK Independence Party protest was met by a counter-demonstration.
In Horley, Surrey, about 200 anti-immigration protesters draped in St George and Union flags clashed with roughly 50 Stand Up to Racism protesters.
The two groups almost came together in the early afternoon, with lines of police separating them.
The Stand Up to Racism protesters were shepherded into a smaller area as they continued to chant "no hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here", which were met with "no they're f****** not" from the other side of the street.
Three people were arrested, two for breach of the peace and one for breaching the conditions of a community protection notice, Surrey Police said.
The Government will set out further details of plans for asylum system reforms in the autumn, drawing on lessons from other European countries which have faster appeals systems - including some which run independent appeals bodies similar to the one being proposed.
Ms Cooper said: "We inherited an asylum system in complete chaos with a soaring backlog of asylum cases and a broken appeals system with thousands of people in the system for years on end.
"That is why we are taking practical steps to fix the foundations and restore control and order to the system.
"We are determined to substantially reduce the number of people in the asylum system as part of our plan to end asylum hotels.
"Already since the election we have reduced the backlog of people waiting for initial decisions by 24% and increased failed asylum returns by 30%.
"But we cannot carry on with these completely unacceptable delays in appeals as a result of the system we have inherited which mean that failed asylum seekers stay in the system for years on end at huge cost to the taxpayer."
Official figures released earlier this month showed a total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
The record level of applications comes as the backlog of people waiting for an initial decision on their claims dropped to 90,812 at the end of June.
On Tuesday, the High Court granted Epping Forest District Council a temporary injunction to remove asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, from September 12.
Regular protests had been held outside the hotel in recent weeks after an asylum seeker was charged with trying to kiss a 14-year-old girl, which he denies.
The Government announced plans on Friday to appeal against the High Court's refusal to allow it to intervene in the case, and to further appeal against the temporary injunction.
Other councils also publicly announced their intention to seek legal advice as to whether they could achieve a similar injunction for hotels in their areas.
Reform UK's Nigel Farage has set out plans for mass deportations if he becomes prime minister.
Arresting asylum seekers on arrival, automatic detention and forced deportation to countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea are among the proposals which will be set out in detail on Tuesday.
They also include deals with third countries, which could include reviving the Conservatives' Rwanda link-up, and sending asylum seekers to British overseas territories such as Ascension Island as a "fallback" option.
Mr Farage said the plans could see hundreds of thousands of people deported and five charter flights taking off from the UK every day.
The first step of Reform UK's plans would be to leave the European Convention on Human Rights and to scrap the Human Rights Act, followed by legislation to bar those who come to the UK on small boats from claiming asylum.
