Asylum: Napier Barracks

(asked on 18th January 2022) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason a public consultation on extending the use of Napier Barracks as asylum accommodation for a further five years was not held prior to the decision to proceed with the extension of its use.


Answered by
Kevin Foster Portrait
Kevin Foster
This question was answered on 27th January 2022

Given the increasing pressure on the asylum accommodation system, the Home Office took the decision that retaining the use of Napier beyond 21 September 2021 was necessary to ensure sufficient accommodation was available to uphold our statutory requirement.

The Home Office engaged with statutory partners, members of parliament and local government before the SDO was laid before Parliament. The timing of this decision and the circumstances in which it was made (i.e. the quickly growing need to secure accommodation) dictated only a limited level of engagement could be undertaken.

The Home Office is currently consulting on the continued use of Napier Barracks as accommodation for eligible asylum seekers whilst their claims for asylum are being considered. The consultation description is available at: Napier barracks planning application (www.gov.uk)

All representations made in relation to the Planning Application will be considered to inform the planning process and any representation will be contained within a Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) report. This report will be hosted on the Gov.UK website and those who made representations will be notified to advise them the SCI is now in the public domain.

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