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Written question asked by Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru) on Thursday, 10 December 2020, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 15 December 2020 (named day). It was answered by Chris Philp (Conservative) on Tuesday, 15 December 2020 on behalf of the Home Office.

Asylum: Napier Barracks and Penally Camp

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the official categorisation is of the temporary accommodation sites for asylum seekers at (a) Penally training camp in Pembrokeshire and (b) Napier barracks in Kent.

Answer

The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide support including accommodation to destitute asylum seekers whilst their claims are being considered.

In recent months, the asylum system has faced significant pressures and it has become necessary to source, and use, additional temporary accommodation, such as hotels, to ensure the Home Office can continue to meet its statutory obligations towards destitute asylum seekers.

Following an urgent scoping exercise, we identified further suitable and available accommodation and put it to use quickly. This now includes the use of two MOD sites in Kent and Pembrokeshire. The sites are being run by Clearsprings Ready Homes, one of the Home Office’s Accommodation Providers under our Asylum Accommodation and Support contracts.

The number of asylum applicants transferred out of Napier barracks and Penally training camp are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.

However, the latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area, which includes those in hotel and wider government facilities. These statistics can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets#asylum-support.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
128221
Session
2019-21
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Asylum Temporary accommodation Napier Barracks Penally Camp Folkestone
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk