Previous government 'wasted' £15m on asbestos-contaminated abandoned prison to house asylum seekers

A report has outlined how millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money was spent on an asbestos-laden former prison that the Conservative government wanted to use to house asylum seekers.

The review revealed a lack of controls and reporting within the Interior Ministry, as well as political pressure to complete the deal quickly. Then minister of immigration Robert Jenrick – who’s in there now? Kemi Badenoch‘s shadow cabinet – is cited as a key decision maker.

Research by the National Audit Office (NAO) showed that the Home office bought the site for over £15 million from a company that had bought it the year before for around £6 million.

The cost estimate for removing asbestos and completing other works was in excess of £20 million.

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Campaigners said millions of pounds of public money had been “thrown away in a polluted and dangerous place that should never have been considered”, and branded the revelations a “fiasco”.

Labor says Mr Jenrick had “no regard for public money” and that “serious questions” must now be asked about his presence in the shadow cabinet.

The NAO found that the Home Office cut corners and paid more than necessary in its rush to acquire the site in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, which was “ultimately deemed unsuitable for its intended purpose due to contamination”.

The Northeye site was bought by the last government under Rishi Sunak’s plans to “hold the boats back”. lower expenditure by the Ministry of the Interior on hotels used to house asylum seekers.

This was one of several locations identified by the government as possible locations for housing asylum seekers after they arrived in Britain.

Following this announcement in December 2022, a small ministerial group – which included Mr Jenrick and the then Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Sir Oliver Dowden – worked to purchase several sites, including Northeye.

In January 2023, the Ministry of the Interior made a bid for the Northeye site. At the time it refused a detailed valuation of the site in the “red book”.

A month later, checks revealed that the entire plot was “high risk” contaminated.

A further investigation found that the “primary contamination risk came from asbestos-containing materials in existing buildings and contaminated soil”.

A ‘due diligence report’ indicated that repairs to buildings could cost ‘in excess of £20 million’, but this was not mentioned in the Home Office’s internal advice, the NAO said.

In March 2023, the site’s “significant risks” were highlighted to Mr Jenrick by Cabinet, including questions about its feasibility and inability to connect the site to utilities.

Mr Jenrick announced on 29 March 2023 that his government would develop the Northeye site to house up to 1,200 migrants, with the Home Office completing the sale for around £15.4 million in September 2023.

Initially the price for Northeye was set at £14.5 million, but this later rose – partly because the Home Office underestimated how long it would take to complete the purchase.

No work has started at the site and the new government has not yet decided what to do with it. The NAO says housing developers have expressed interest in developing the site.

Lou Calvey, director of the charity Asylum Matters, which campaigns for migrants to be housed in communities rather than camps, said more than £15 million of public money has been “wasted in a polluted and dangerous place that should never have been considered.” held”.

A Labor spokesman said: “The Tories have wasted taxpayers’ money for 14 years to leave Britain with a £22 billion black hole. Now the National Audit Office has revealed the extent of the Conservatives’ reckless spending.

‘It raises serious questions about Kemi Badenoch’s judgment in appointing someone to her shadow cabinet who has no regard for public money.

“It’s the same old Tories, they haven’t learned anything. Labor is laying the foundations to deliver change and clean up the mess left by the Tories.”

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Conservative MP and chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said: “My committee will follow up on this matter to ensure mistakes are not continued and public money is not wasted on future acquisitions.”

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A Home Office spokesperson said: “The contents of this report relate to the previous government’s purchase of the Northeye site.

“Having inherited an asylum system under exceptional pressure, 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 accommodation, ensuring a better value for the taxpayer is achieved.

“We are putting the asylum system back in motion, increasing the return of people who have no right to be here, with more than 9,000 people removed since July 2024. We will continue to restore order to the system so that it functions quickly, firmly and honestly. .”

Sky News has approached Mr Jenrick and Sir Oliver for comment.