Home Office warned over migrant camp cost – then spent £15m at RAF Wethersfield

The Government spent almost £15m converting an RAF base into an asylum seeker site in just six months, i can reveal.

The cost, revealed following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, came after ministers were warned that housing asylum seekers at the base instead of in hotels would not save money.

Work at MDP Wethersfield in Essex, earmarked to hold 1,700 migrants, was carried out by a major Government contractor between March and November last year.

The FOI revealed that during that period, a total of £14.85m was paid to Kier Group for building works and facilities management.

As construction work has continued at the controversial site in Home Secretary James Cleverly’s constituency, the full amount spent is believed to be even higher.

The spending was from the Home Office, which runs the asylum seeker site, but through a Ministry of Justice contract.

Analysis by procurement data specialist Tussell shows Kier, which has worked on large infrastructure projects including Crossrail and HS2, secured public sector contracts worth £1.4bn during the last financial year, more than any other company.

home office warned over migrant camp cost – then spent £15m at raf wethersfield

Temporary accommodation units housing migrants at Wethersfield in Essex (Photo: Carl Court/Getty Images)

Last month, i revealed how ministers were repeatedly warned there was a “significant” risk that housing migrants at former military sites would not cut spending as ministers claimed.

Senior Home Office officials raised concerns over the cost and feasibility of using temporary modular accommodation for asylum seekers at Wethersfield.

The Government insisted the scheme would slash soaring hotel costs for migrants, but an internal Home Office memo sent in the days and weeks before its announcement last March show doubts were raised over whether the flagship policy would be cheaper.

One set of estimated costs showed using the temporary portable cabins could be more expensive as migrant accommodation than hotels, with estimates ranging from £115.24 to £167 per person per night, compared with the hotel rate of £142 per person per night.

The figures were “based on high level initial estimates for occupancy of one year”, with cost assumptions on the site’s value for money based on an 85 per cent occupancy rate of 1,700 asylum seekers.

home office warned over migrant camp cost – then spent £15m at raf wethersfield

Construction work being carried out at Wethersfield last summer (Photo: Wethersfield Protests)

But only around 600 migrants have been on site at any one time since the first arrivals in July, raising questions over whether value for money has been met.

The Home Office said the cost estimates for the modular accommodation in the memos from last year are “overestimated, outdated, and pre-contractual”.

A memo on 24 March last year – days before the Government announced its plan to use ex-military sites as migrant accommodation – written for a senior official and described as “final”, warned “there is a risk the site could not meet VfM [value for money]”, adding “I would advise ministers that the value for money case is marginal and the risks to delivery are significant”.

The Home Office plans to use special planning rules to extend the temporary use of Wethersfield for three more years.

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Last week, David Neal, the then-independent chief inspector of borders and immigration who was sacked after he criticised Border Force over alleged security failings, criticised a “lack of purposeful activity” at Wethersfield.

This was “was likely to have a deleterious impact on the residents’ mental health” and increased the risk of disorder, he said.

The Home Office said it “disagreed with this assessment”.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We continue to work across government and with local authorities to identify a range of accommodation options to reduce the unacceptable use of hotels which costs the taxpayer £8m a day.

“All commercial contracts are designed to ensure the best value for taxpayers and the Home Office.

“The Wethersfield site has been designed to be as self-sufficient as possible in order to minimise the potential impact on local communities.”

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