Councils could get ?3500 per person to host migrant barges

Councils could be handed GBP3,500 per person sweetener to see off opposition from local people to floating barges housing Channel migrants amid fury at plan for Dorset beauty spot

By David Wilcock, Deputy Political Editor For Mailonline[1]

Published: 09:32, 5 April 2023 | Updated: 09:32, 5 April 2023

Local authorities could be paid up to GBP3,500 per person to accept migrant barges in ports as ministers try to see off a wave of opposition to docking the boats off the coast.

Portland[2] in Dorset is expected to be confirmed as the first location for one of the flat-bottomed accommodation craft as the Government tries to cut its astronomical asylum seeker hotel bill.

But the scheme, which would also see them housed on former military bases, is facing a major fightback from Tory[3] MPs and councils who do not want the vessels in their back yards.

South Dorset MP Richard Drax and other critics are threatening legal action against the plan to anchor the Bibby Stockholm, which can house 500 people, in Portland Harbour.

The harbour is a stop-off for international cruise ships close to the Jurassic Coast Unesco World Heritage Site.

The money would be paid to the local council to cover the cost of providing services to those aboard the vessel, to avoid the taxpayer having to stump up, the Telegraph reported[4].

Tory MP for South Dorset Richard Drax told The Times: 'We are looking at all legal routes. We will look at any way we can stop this.' Tory MP for South Dorset Richard Drax told The Times: 'We are looking at all legal routes. We will look at any way we can stop this.'

Tory MP for South Dorset Richard Drax told The Times: 'We are looking at all legal routes.

We will look at any way we can stop this.'

Portland Harbour is a stop-off for international cruise ships close to the Jurassic Coast Unesco World Heritage Site. Portland Harbour is a stop-off for international cruise ships close to the Jurassic Coast Unesco World Heritage Site.

Portland Harbour is a stop-off for international cruise ships close to the Jurassic Coast Unesco World Heritage Site.

The Bibby Stockholm costs around GBP4,500 a day to run, plus a GBP15,000 daily chartering fee from owner Bibby Marine.

Further costs would include utilities, catering, and healthcare utilities, it has been reported.

The barge was recently refurbished after an inspection by a regulator, which described it as an 'aggressive and oppressive environment' after being used by the Dutch government to house asylum seekers a few years ago.

The barge can house 506 people and has 222 en-suite bedrooms.

It also has a restaurant, a TV and games room, a gym as well as a furnished bar.

The Home Office is seeking ways to cut the GBP6million-a-day it is paying to house more than 50,000 migrants in hotels.

The border watchdog today warned ministers to seize the 'opportunities' the new plan presents to reform immigration accommodation and avoid chaos at transit camps in Kent last year.

Writing in the Telegraph David Neal, the independent chief inspector of immigration and borders, said: 'While the Government is keen to emphasise that provision for asylum seekers at the new ex-military sites will ''meet their essential living needs and nothing more'', the new facilities offer an opportunity, if the Home Office will take it, to provide more appropriate housing and support to residents than was available to them in hotels, while providing the taxpayer with much better value for money.

'The cost of hotel accommodation - frequently and rightly described as ''eye-watering'' - is clearly unsustainable, but it must also be acknowledged that hotels have been entirely unsuitable places for asylum seekers to reside in for extended periods of time.

'All too often, placement in hotels has left vulnerable people isolated, with limited access to the local services and support they need.

'Dedicated asylum accommodation facilities may or may not be the best alternative, but they do at least offer the potential for an increased concentration of resources, with access to medical care, catering, cleaning services, transport, opportunities for purposeful activity and legal advice all in one place.

'The Home Office needs to plan carefully for the provision of these services and to make sure they are accessible at the new sites from day one.

Close liaison between the Home Office and the community, local authorities, health services, police, contractors and sub-contractors will be necessary if migrants are to be housed appropriately at the facilities now being developed.'

References

  1. ^ David Wilcock, Deputy Political Editor For Mailonline (www.dailymail.co.uk)
  2. ^ Portland (www.dailymail.co.uk)
  3. ^ Tory (www.dailymail.co.uk)
  4. ^ the Telegraph reported (www.telegraph.co.uk)

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