Home Secretary’s failure to visit Napier Barracks ‘shocking but not surprising’

Priti Patel is facing a fresh outcry over Napier Barracks as the PA news agency reveals she has not visited the controversial site since it was turned into accommodation for asylum seekers.

One charity said it was “shocking but not surprising” that Ms Patel had not personally visited the barracks in Folkestone, Kent, which the Home Secretary has claimed is suitable and Covid-safe.

The Home Office has also refused to say how much it has spent on Napier Barracks overall or how much money has been handed to contractors, citing commercial interests.

The revelations came in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by PA.

A spokesperson for the Home Secretary declined to comment on her behalf, while a Home Office spokesperson said “significant improvements” have been made to Napier Barracks but declined to say what the overall expenditure has been.

Dating back more than 130 years, the ageing Napier Barracks was loaned to the Home Office in September 2020 and has been used to house hundreds of asylum seekers, many of whom have crossed the English Channel aboard small boats.

In the FOI request by PA, the Home Office was asked to detail how much had been spent on the barracks in preparation for and since its use for housing asylum seekers.

This was to include amounts paid to accommodation providers, contractors and sub-contractors, as well as expenditure on things such as upgrades and fixes.

Napier Barracks
A view of Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA)

However, that part of the FOI request was refused, with the department saying the information is considered to be “commercially sensitive”.

It added: “If we were to disclose the information to you, this would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of both the Home Office and those companies with whom the Home Office enters into contracts.”

The FOI also asked how many times Ms Patel has visited Napier Barracks in that same time period, as well as minister Chris Philp.

The Home Office confirmed that Ms Patel had not visited the site and Mr Philp had visited once.

The revelations provoked an outcry from charities as well as from the Labour Party.

Sile Reynolds, senior policy adviser at Freedom from Torture, said: “At a time when the Government should be investing in safe, dignified and humane housing for all people in the UK, it is wasting money on this hateful and divisive strategy.

“The public and the people who languish in the barracks deserve to know the price of this inhumanity. What does Priti Patel have to hide?”

Ms Reynolds called on the Home Secretary to visit the barracks so she can “see first-hand how her decisions have affected vulnerable people”.

“Her absence is an affront to their suffering,” she added.

Bella Sankey, director of Detention Action, said: “The quasi-detention of traumatised people at disused military barracks has been one of Priti Patel’s flagship policies, yet despite public outcry at the appalling conditions and criticism in the courts and in Parliament, we now learn she has failed to check for herself.”

She added that this was “shocking but not surprising” and also called for the expenditure figures to be released.

Labour’s Bambos Charalambous, MP and shadow Home Office minister, told PA: “After a recent High Court ruling found that Napier Barracks was not fit for housing asylum seekers, it is shocking that ministers are unwilling to reveal how much they have spent on this sub-standard accommodation and how much they have paid to outside contractors.”

He said the Home Office must outline this information “immediately” so that it can be held accountable for the cost to the public purse.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “During the height of an unprecedented health pandemic, to ensure asylum seekers were not left destitute, additional accommodation was required at extremely short notice.

“These sites are a temporary measure to ease pressure on the system during these unprecedented times and reduce our reliance on hotels.

“Significant improvements have been made to the site, including improved accommodation and more outdoor and recreational activities.”

People seeking asylum – Napier Barracks
Napier Barracks dates back more than 130 years (Gareth Fuller/PA)

They also claimed that the department’s New Plan for Immigration will “fix the broken asylum system”.

Some £500,000 has been spent to improve the site, including improvements to accommodation, more recreational and outdoor activities including access to basketball, a library, prayer rooms and yoga, according to the Home Office.

The use of Napier Barracks for accommodation came despite the Home Office being warned by Public Health England that it was unsuitable, the High Court previously heard.

Ms Patel previously said the site was “Covid-compliant” and “has been from day one”.

A major outbreak ripped through the barracks, with nearly 200 people contracting the virus in the first months of 2021.

In June 2021, six asylum seekers previously housed at Napier Barracks won their legal challenge against the Government after a High Court judge found the accommodation failed to meet a minimum standard.

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