Home Office 'cut corners' buying £15m migrant camp

The Home Office "cut corners" and made "poor decisions", while under pressure to stop housing migrants in hotels, when it paid £15m for an asbestos-contaminated derelict prison, the government's spending watchdog has said.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said the amount paid for the Northeye site in East Sussex in 2023 under the Conservative government was more than twice what the seller paid in 2022.

A report found "corners [were] cut" so the site could be acquired quickly to house asylum seekers despite an assessment deeming it "high risk".

The Home Office said the report related to the last government's actions and it remained "committed to ending the use of hotels".

In December 2022, then-prime minister Rishi Sunak delivered a statement in Parliament in which he vowed to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, saying that the government would "work to achieve this as quickly as possible".

In its report, the NAO said the statement "generated significant pressure within the Home Office to identify and secure sites for asylum accommodation at pace".

It added that, the following January, a decision to acquire Northeye was taken by a small group of ministers and officials from across Whitehall, despite the "technical due diligence and approvals process not having been undertaken".

The group included the minister for immigration and the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the report said, positions then held by Robert Jenrick and Oliver Dowden.

In February 2023, an environmental review identified a contamination risk from "asbestos-containing materials in existing buildings and contaminated ground", while a due diligence report assessed conditions at the site as "high risk".

The diligence report also estimated the cost of repairs to buildings at the site to be £20m, although this figure was not included in advice later submitted to ministers.

The following month, Jenrick announced that Northeye would be developed to house 1,200 people, and the sale was completed in September 2023.

The final price paid for the site was £15.4m, including £0.9m paid to the vendors - Brockwell Group Bexhill LLP - because the Home Office had underestimated how long it would take to complete the purchase.

Brockwell had bought Northeye in August 2022 for £6.3m.

The costs of remediation because of the contamination at the site were estimated to be between £1.1m and £3.6m.

The NAO concluded that the Home Office's attempt to acquire Northeye "within just a few months... led it to cut corners and make a series of poor decisions".

"This resulted in it purchasing a site that was unsuitable for [its] original purpose, and it paying more for it than it needed to."

Northeye was purchased to increase capacity in the asylum system when the previous government was spending £8m a day on hotel accommodation and dealing with an increase in asylum applications.

It was originally intended as non-detained accommodation for up to 1,400 men who had arrived in the UK on small boats, meaning residents would be free to come and go.

But in May 2023, the government concluded the site was unsuitable for that purpose and said it would be used instead for detained accommodation.

To date, no work has been carried out to make it habitable.

Dr Kieran Mullen, Conservative MP for Bexhill and Battle, said it was “not fair” on the residents in his constituency to go through this.

“I absolutely regret that we didn’t acquire this site in the best possible way, and I’m really glad that the Home Office has learnt a lesson from this,” he said.

Labour said the report raised "serious questions" about opposition leader Kemi Badenoch's judgment in appointing Mr Jenrick as shadow justice secretary.

"The Tories spent 14 years wasting taxpayers' cash to leave Britain with a £22bn black hole. Now the National Audit Office has revealed the extent of the Conservatives' reckless spending," a party spokesman said.

"It's the same old Tories, they haven't learned anything. Labour is fixing the foundations to deliver change, and clean up the mess the Tories left."

In July, the Home Office said no decision had been taken on the use of the site and that it would “consider its strategy and broader requirements before taking a view on the future use of it”.

Responding to the NAO's report, it said: “Having inherited an asylum system under exceptional strain, with tens of thousands of cases stuck in a backlog, we remain committed to ending the use of hotels and housing people in more suitable and cost-effective achieving better value for the taxpayer".

“We will continue to restore order to the system so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly."

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has announced it will conduct a further inquiry.

The committee's chairman, Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said that “once again, rushed and misjudged decision-making has resulted in the Home Office overpaying for an asylum accommodation site that is not fit for purpose".

“I am concerned that the Home Office deviated from standard practice, overlooked warnings about the condition of the site and lacked expertise to properly oversee the purchase of Northeye.”

The new Labour government said no decision has been made on the use of the site.

The NAO said: "It remains to be seen whether the acquisition of the Northeye site results in benefits that justify its cost."

Suella Braverman, the former Conservative home secretary, said she would not be commenting.

The Conservative Party has been contacted for comment.

Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.