Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what role Lieutenant General Stuart Skeates has in the operation of the Manston Short-term Holding Facility; and what the responsibilities are of the other military personnel working at that site.

Lieutenant General Stuart Skeates has been loaned from the Ministry of Defence to the Home Office to provide advice and coordination of the department’s response to small boat crossings. This includes advising on the strategic direction of the Manston site. General Skeates is not responsible for operational decision making at Manston.

Other military personnel working at the Manston site are deployed under a Memorandum of Terms of Occupation agreed between the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence in December 2021. These personnel support Home Office officials whilst they conduct initial assessment and screening of new arrivals at the site.