Home Office Seeks Planning Permission for Military Sites in Bicester, Barnham, and Linton-On-Ouse

The Home Office is seeking to expand the use of military sites to house asylum seekers, with three Ministry of Defence sites in Bicester in Oxfordshire, Barnham in Suffolk, and Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire described as able to house about 3,750 asylum seekers if planning permission is granted.

“- Published The Home Office is attempting to use three more military sites to house thousands of asylum seekers, as the government seeks to move people out of hotels”

BBC

The BBC said the government is also looking to extend the use of existing military sites in Crowborough, East Sussex until 2030 and Wethersfield, Essex beyond 2027 as it tries to move people out of hotels.

BBC

The Home Office said a further 20 asylum hotels had been shut, reducing the number in use to 170, and the BBC reported that as of March this year 20,885 (21%) asylum seekers were in hotels while 72,768 (75%) were in other accommodation awaiting decisions.

Border security and asylum minister Alex Norris defended the shift, saying: "We are moving asylum seekers into ex-military sites that are a far cry from the hotels the last government left us with."

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp criticized the plan, saying Labour "should be putting illegal immigrants on a plane home rather than messing around with military camps and hotels."

A plan to use Cameron Barracks in Inverness to house asylum seekers was dropped, with The i Paper saying the Home Secretary abandoned the plan after resistance from the Scottish National Party (SNP).

The i Paper reported that the Highland Council, run by a coalition of SNP and independent councillors, objected because the site does not have a multiple occupancy (HMO) licence.

Metro.co.uk

The i Paper quoted a Government source saying: "The Cameron Barracks will not be progressed."

The BBC said this week an MP reported that one scheme to house up to 300 male asylum seekers at Cameron Barracks in Inverness had been dropped, following protests.

The BBC also included the Red Cross warning that military barracks "are often in isolated locations and, by their very nature, can retraumatise people who have fled conflict and persecution."

The Home Office’s push to close asylum hotels and move people into other accommodation is happening alongside immigration reforms expected to be introduced in Parliament next week, the BBC said.

“Home Office plans to use three more former military sites to house thousands of asylum seekers have been condemned as “arrogant”, “costly” and “a political fix” by refugee charities and local stakeholders”

The Guardian

The BBC reported that the Immigration and Asylum Bill, which will aim to increase the forced removal of people refused asylum, is expected to be put before the House of Commons next Tuesday and is likely to face stiff opposition from some Labour MPs.

The BBC said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will seek to drive through the reforms, which will be inherited by the next prime minister following the resignation of Sir Keir Starmer.

The BBC quoted Alex Norris again on the policy direction, saying: "This is a system being brought back under control – and we will not stop until the job is done."

The Metro.co.uk account tied the expansion of military accommodation to the closure of 20 asylum hotels, including the Bell Hotel in Epping, and said Border Security and Asylum Minister Alex Norris said the number of hotels used had "more than halved" from its peak of 400 with just under 170 currently active.