13 December 2023 , 16:42
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More than £20million of taxpayers’ money is being spent on leasing the Bibby Stockholm barge, the Government has admitted.
The controversial vessel that is being used to accommodate hundreds of asylum seekers is docked in Portland Port in Dorset.
In a letter to MPs, Home Office permanent secretary Sir Matthew Rycroft said that £22,450,772 is being spent on the barge over what is thought to be an 18 month period. The £41,000-a-day bill relates only to the leasing of the vessel, with the cost of the berthing, security and extra support for the local council coming on top.
It is thought only around 200 people are currently accommodated on the barge, which would work out at £200-a-night for each one. That is more expensive than many hotels even though ministers have repeatedly claimed it would save money.
Immigration Minister Tom Pursglove insisted the cost was "undoubtedly" cheaper than housing asylum seekers in hotels.
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Sir Matthew wrote: “The value-for-money assessment is currently being updated to give the latest per person per night cost and we will provide details in the New Year once this is complete.” In his letter to the Home Affairs Committee, the top official also set out how £2.1million has been spent so far on legal challenges related to the stalled Rwanda deportation scheme.
Mr Pursglove told the MPs that 132 children who had gone missing from Home Office hotels still had not been found. He said 103 of these were now over the age of 18.
The figures on the cost of the barge come after it was announced that one of the asylum seekers on board had died. Police were called to reports of the "sudden death" of a man living on the vessel early on Tuesday morning. South Dorset MP Richard Drax said he had been told by the Home Office the man is thought to have taken his own life. Home Secretary James Cleverly has said that the death will be investigated.
The Government started using the Bibby Stockholm as accommodation in August, but it was temporarily shut after just four days when Legionella bacteria was discovered in the water supply. The vessel’s owner, Liverpool-based Bibby Marine say it has been refurbished since a watchdog called it an "oppressive environment" when the Dutch government used it to house asylum seekers in 2005.
Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “We can’t continue with this damaging and costly chaos.”
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