More military bases could be used to house migrants, says defence minister

The Government is planning for further military bases to be used to house asylum seekers, a minister said, after it emerged migrants would be moved to the sites of two barracks.

But defence minister Luke Pollard appeared to suggest that the cost of moving migrants into the bases could be higher than housing them in hotels.

The Home Office confirmed on Monday that two barracks in Scotland and southern England would be used to house about 900 men temporarily.

The plans will see men housed at Cameron Barracks in Inverness and Crowborough Training Camp in East Sussex.

Signalling that further bases were also being considered as accommodation sites, Mr Pollard told BBC Breakfast: “Some bases are small, some bases are larger in terms of numbers, but I think the conversation around the bases that are in the news today is about proving this concept, is about seeing whether this works.

“We believe that these bases can provide adequate accommodation for asylum seekers.”

Mr Pollard was also keen to stress the standard of accommodation, telling the BBC: “This isn’t luxury accommodation by any means, but it’s adequate for what is required, and that will enable us to take the pressure off the asylum hotel estates and enable those to be closed at a faster rate.”

He later added that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was working with the Home Office “on standing up a number of bases at the moment”.

Mr Pollard continued: “We’ve got to make sure that the facilities are right there, that we’ve got the adequate security arrangements in place, and that we’ve got engagement with the local authorities, the councils in those areas, to make sure that there is adequate provision for what is expected in those locations.”

Asked about whether it would cost more to house migrants at the bases than in hotels, Mr Pollard insisted that “the public want to see those hotels close”.

But he added: “We’re looking at what’s possible and, in some cases, those bases may be a different cost to hotels, but I think we need to reflect the public mood on this asylum hotels need to close.”

The minister later told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that there would be “different costs” depending on the age of the base, with older bases likely costing more.

But the Home Office budget, not the MoD’s cash, will be spent on housing migrants at the military sites, he added.

Barrack sites will be handed over in their “entirety” to the Home Office, Mr Pollard told LBC.

Migrants are not being housed alongside serving military personnel, he added, as the bases selected are currently out of use.

Both Crowborough and Cameron barracks sites were used to accommodate Afghan families evacuated during the withdrawal from Kabul in 2021 while they were resettled elsewhere, with that work ending earlier this year.

The move is part of Government efforts to end the use of asylum hotels, which a parliamentary committee branded “failed, chaotic and expensive” on Monday.

But reacting to the plans, Care4Calais chief executive Steve Smith said: “How much evidence does the Government need that camps are bad for people’s health and wellbeing?

“We’ve had Napier, Penally and Wethersfield, and hunger strikes, protests and attempted suicides have been a regular occurrence at all of them.

“Opening more camps will only serve to retraumatise more people who have already survived horrors such as war and torture.”

He added that the National Audit Office found that Wethersfield in Essex and RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire would cost more than asylum hotels when including “exorbitant set-up costs of such sites”.

“This is a complete failure of Government policy, and a failure of the Government’s duty to protect the wellbeing of people seeking sanctuary,” Mr Smith said.

Industrial sites, temporary facilities and disused accommodation are also being considered as housing for migrants, and officials have been ordered to accelerate work identifying alternatives.

As of June this year, about 32,000 asylum seekers were being housed in hotels, down from a peak of more than 56,000 in 2023 but 2,500 more than at the same point last year.

And expected costs of Home Office accommodation contracts for 2019-2029 have tripled from £4.5 billion to £15.3 billion, following what the Commons Home Affairs Committee called a “dramatic increase” in demand.