17 August 2023 , 16:24
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The Tories have wasted more than £3million on the Bibby Stockholm barge failure - enough to pay for 70,000 GP appointments, research reveals. The vessel, which is moored on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, was intended to house up to 500 asylum seekers.
Just 39 people were moved in before it had to be evacuated four days later after legionella bacteria was detected in the water. The Bibby Stockholm barge arrived in Portland on July 17 but since then has sat empty and unusable except for those four days.
It was reported earlier this week that migrants who were moved off have been told they won’t be moved back onto the barge for weeks. The government has repeatedly claimed the Bibby Stockholm is a cheaper way to house asylum seekers than keeping them in hotels. The Home Office has not released official costs of the barge but it is believed to cost around £20,000 per day for food, healthcare and security.
Labour calculated the daily cost of the barge being docked in Portland and added it to the £2.5million the Home Office is paying to Portland Port, as well as costs given to Dorset council. The party also added on additional costs of approximately £3,500 for every occupied bed which it said would have been incurred on the days that asylum seekers were briefly aboard the Bibby Stockholm, as well as costs for their relocation and medical testing following the discovery of legionella bacteria last week
A recent study estimated an average nine-minute GP face-to-face consultation cost £42 in 2021/22, the King’s Fund reported. More than one million patients a month are being forced to wait four weeks to see their GP, according to NHS data.
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Shadow Immigration Minister Stephen Kinnock said: "This is the damaging cost of Tory chaos in the asylum system. Millions of pounds of taxpayers' money spent on unworkable, undeliverable projects that lead to endless delays and even more dysfunction. This empty barge, which has already thrown up a number of serious health and safety concerns, is yet more evidence of Conservative incompetence and chaos, and it has come at an astronomical cost to the British people.”
He added: "Only Labour has a serious plan to stop the Channel crossings by cracking down on the smuggler gangs and negotiating a returns deal with the EU, and to clear the backlog and get people out of expensive hotels, barges and bases. The country simply can't afford more of this mess."
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We do not recognise these figures.
“The pressure on the asylum system has continued to grow and requires us to look at a range of accommodation options which offer better value for the British taxpayer than expensive hotels. Doing nothing is not an option.
“This is why we continue to source new alternative sites and vessels to accommodate migrants, which are more manageable for communities, as our European neighbours are doing.”
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