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

A report reveals how millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money was spent on a former asbestos-riddled prison that the Conservative government wanted to use to house asylum seekers.

The review found a lack of checks and reporting within the Home Office, as well as political pressure to close the deal quickly. Then Minister of Immigration Robert Jenrick – who is now in Kemi Badenochof the shadow cabinet – is mentioned as a key decision-maker.

The National Audit Office (NAO) review found that Home office bought the site for more than £15 million from a company which had bought it for around £6 million the previous year.

The estimated cost to remove the asbestos and carry out other works was more than £20 million.

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Campaigners said millions of pounds of public money had been “thrown at a contaminated and dangerous site that should never have been considered”, calling the revelations a “fiasco”.

Labor says Mr Jenrick had ‘no respect for public money’ and ‘serious questions’ must now be asked about his presence in the shadow cabinet.

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

The Northeye site was bought by the last government as part of Rishi Sunak’s plans to ‘stop the boats’ and also reduction in hotel spending by the Ministry of the Interior used to house asylum seekers.

This is one of the places identified by the government as having the potential to house asylum seekers after they arrive in the UK.

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

In January 2023, the Home Office made an offer for the Northeye site. At the time, she refused a detailed evaluation of the site as part of a “red book”.

A month later, checks revealed “high risk” contamination across the entire plot.

Further examination revealed that “the main risk of contamination came from asbestos-containing materials in existing buildings and contaminated soils.”

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A “due diligence report” indicated that repairs to the 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 the Cabinet Office, including questions about the 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 accommodate up to 1,200 migrants, with the Home Office finalizing the sale for around £15.4 million in September 2023.

Initially, Northeye’s price was expected to be £14.5 million, but it later increased – partly due to the Home Office underestimating how long it would take to complete the purchase.

No work has been started on the site and the new government has not yet decided what to do with it. The NAO says property 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 had been “thrown at a site contaminated and dangerous which should never have been considered.”

A Labor spokesperson said: “The Tories have spent 14 years wasting taxpayers’ money to leave Britain with a £22 billion black hole. Today the National Audit Office revealed the extent of the Conservatives’ reckless spending.

“This raises serious questions about Kemi Badenoch’s judgment in appointing someone to his shadow cabinet who has no respect for public money.

“It’s the same old Tories, they haven’t learned anything. Labor are repairing the foundations to make changes and clean up the mess left by the Tories.”

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Conservative MP and chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said: “My committee will follow this issue to ensure that no continued errors are made and that 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 purchase of the Northeye site by the previous government.

“Having inherited an asylum system under exceptional strain, with tens of thousands of cases blocked, we remain determined to end the use of hotels and accommodate people in more suitable and cost-effective accommodation , in order to obtain better value for the taxpayer.

“We are restarting the asylum system, increasing returns of people who have no right to be here, with more than 9,000 people expelled since July 2024. We will continue to restore order to the system so that it works quickly, firmly and fairly. “.

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