A report has outlined how thousands and thousands of kilos of taxpayer cash was spent on an asbestos-riddled former jail that the Conservative authorities wished to make use of to deal with asylum seekers.
The assessment highlighted an absence of checks and stories inside the House Workplace, in addition to political stress to finish the deal shortly. Then immigration minister Robert Jenrick – who’s now in Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cupboard – is talked about as a key choice maker.
The Nationwide Audit Workplace (NAO) assessment discovered the House Workplace purchased the positioning for greater than £15m from an organization that had bought it for round £6m the 12 months earlier than.
The associated fee estimate to take away asbestos and full different work was greater than £20m.
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Campaigners mentioned thousands and thousands of kilos of public cash was “thrown away on a contaminated and dangerous site that should never have been under consideration”, branding the revelations a “fiasco”.
Labour says Mr Jenrick had “no regard for public money” and that “serious questions” now must be requested about his presence within the shadow cupboard.
The NAO discovered the House Workplace lower corners and paid greater than it wanted to in its haste to amass the positioning in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, which was “ultimately deemed unfit for its intended purpose due to contamination”.
The Northeye web site was purchased by the final authorities beneath Rishi Sunak’s plans to “stop the boats” and likewise decrease House Workplace spending on resorts used to deal with asylum seekers.
This was one of many places recognized by the federal government as having potential to deal with asylum seekers after they arrived within the UK.
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Labour has questioned Mr Jenrick’s inclusion in Ms Badenoch’s prime crew. Pic: PA
After this announcement in December 2022, a small ministerial group – of whom Mr Jenrick after which chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Sir Oliver Dowden had been an element – labored to purchase varied websites, together with Northeye.
In January 2023, the House Workplace made a suggestion for the Northeye web site. On the time, it refused a “red book” detailed valuation of the positioning.
A month later, checks revealed “high-risk” contamination throughout the plot.
An extra assessment discovered the “primary contamination risk was from asbestos-containing materials in existing buildings and contaminated ground”.
A “due diligence report” indicated repairs to buildings might value “in excess of £20m”, however this was not talked about within the House Workplace’s inside recommendation, the NAO mentioned.
In March 2023, the “significant risks” of the positioning had been highlighted to Mr Jenrick by the Cupboard Workplace, together with questions round feasibility and the shortcoming to attach the positioning to utilities.
Mr Jenrick introduced on 29 March 2023 that his authorities would develop the Northeye web site to deal with as much as 1,200 migrants, with the House Workplace finishing the sale for round £15.4m in September 2023.
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Initially, the value for Northeye was set to be £14.5m, nevertheless, it later rose – partly as a result of House Workplace underestimating how lengthy it could take to finish the acquisition.
No work has been began on the web site, and the brand new authorities has not determined what to do with it. The NAO says housing builders have registered curiosity in growing the positioning.
Lou Calvey, director of charity Asylum Issues, which campaigns for migrants to be housed in communities as a substitute of camps, mentioned greater than £15m of public cash was “thrown away on a contaminated and dangerous site that should never have been under consideration”.
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The positioning was discovered to be riddled with asbestos. Pic: PA
A Labour spokesperson mentioned: “The Tories spent 14 years wasting taxpayers’ cash to leave Britain with a £22bn black hole. Now, the National Audit Office has revealed the extent of the Conservatives’ reckless spending.
“It raises severe questions on Kemi Badenoch’s judgement to nominate somebody to her shadow cupboard who has no regard for public cash.
“It’s the same old Tories, they haven’t learned anything. Labour is fixing the foundations to deliver change and clean up the mess the Tories left.”
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Conservative MP and chair of the Public Accounts Committee, mentioned: “My committee will be following up on this issue to ensure that continuous mistakes are not made and public money is not wasted in future acquisitions.”
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A House Workplace spokesperson mentioned: “The contents of this report relate to the previous government’s purchase of the Northeye site.
“Having inherited an asylum system beneath distinctive pressure, with tens of 1000’s of circumstances caught in a backlog, we stay dedicated to ending using resorts and housing folks in additional appropriate and cost-effective lodging, reaching higher worth for the taxpayer.
“We are getting the asylum system moving again, increasing returns of people who have no right to be here, with over 9,000 people removed since July 2024. We will continue to restore order to the system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly.”
