Reform UK has written to new Prime Minister Andy Burnham demanding local authorities be given the power to block the placement of asylum seekers in their communities.

The letter, sent by Reform UK's Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf on 21 July 2026, argues that housing decisions for ‘unvetted’ arrivals have been controlled by central government and outsourced to private contractors, without local consent.

It points to a recent case in Shropshire, where the party claims 83 migrant families were placed in 21 newbuild properties against local wishes.

Signatories include the leaders of Derbyshire, East Sussex, Durham, Sunderland, Leicestershire, Calderdale and Walsall councils, among 17 others.

The letter calls on Burnham to make good on comments he made after taking office about handing power back to local communities and urges him to devolve control over asylum accommodation decisions before the end of the parliamentary session.

Reform UK's message to the PM

Yusuf's letter urges Burnham to act on his stated commitment to devolution, warning that failure to do so would confirm he is, in the letter's words, another ‘two-faced politician’ protecting Westminster's grip on power rather than genuinely empowering councils.

‘You have said that the centralisation and privatisation of political decisions is the root cause of Britain’s current malaise, and this issue represents the best case study of that process,’ he wrote.

‘The Home Office has kept local people out of decision-making whilst outsourcing those choices to private companies like Serco, which reap rich rewards from the destruction of our homes.’

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'The concerns of communities are central to our immigration reforms which is why we are working with local authorities and others to fairly disperse asylum seekers across basic accommodation including ex-military sites. Five military sites are either in use or being explored to house asylum seekers.

'We are seeing results. Asylum seekers in hotels are down 35% in the last year and down 63% from the peak of 56,000 in September 2023.

'We have returned or deported almost 70,000 people who were here illegally and are going further to remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to this country.'