LABOUR Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is planning an overhaul of the asylum appeals system as it tries to cut the number of asylum seekers staying in hotels while they await a ruling. In a post on the Home Office website yesterday, Cooper said: ‘We are determined to substantially reduce the number of people in the asylum system as part of our plan to end asylum hotels. ‘Currently, there is a backlog of 106,000 cases waiting to be heard by the First-Tier Tribunal, including at least 51,000 asylum appeals. ‘Ministers are also introducing a new legal requirement for a 24-week timeframe for the First Tier Tribunal to determine asylum appeals by those receiving asylum accommodation support and appeals by foreign offenders. ‘The government will set out further details of our plans to fast-track cases in the asylum system this autumn.’