A report has outlined how millions of pounds of taxpayer money was spent on an asbestos-riddled former prison that the Conservative government wanted to use to house asylum seekers.
The review highlighted a lack of checks and reports within the Home Office, as well as political pressure to complete the deal quickly. Then immigration minister Robert Jenrick – who is now in Kemi Badenoch‘s shadow cabinet – is mentioned as a key decision maker.
The National Audit Office (NAO) review found the Home Office bought the site for more than £15m from a company that had purchased it for around £6m the year before.
The cost estimate to remove asbestos and complete other work was more than £20m.
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Campaigners said millions of pounds of public money 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 need to be asked about his presence in the shadow cabinet.
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The NAO found the Home Office cut corners and paid more than it needed to in its haste to acquire the site in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, which was “ultimately deemed unfit for its intended purpose due to contamination”.
The Northeye site was bought by the last government under Rishi Sunak’s plans to “stop the boats” and also lower Home Office spending on hotels used to house asylum seekers.
This was one of the locations identified by the government as having potential to house asylum seekers after they arrived in the UK.
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After this announcement in December 2022, a small ministerial group – of whom Mr Jenrick and then chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Sir Oliver Dowden were a part – worked to buy various sites, including Northeye.
In January 2023, the Home Office made an offer for the Northeye site. At the time, it refused a “red book” detailed valuation of the site.
A month later, checks revealed “high-risk” contamination across the plot.
A further review found the “primary contamination risk was from asbestos-containing materials in existing buildings and contaminated ground”.
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A “due diligence report” indicated repairs to buildings could cost “in excess of £20m”, but this was not mentioned in the Home Office’s internal advice, the NAO said.
In March 2023, the “significant risks” of the site were highlighted to Mr Jenrick by the Cabinet Office, including questions around feasibility and the inability to connect the site to utilities.
Mr Jenrick announced on 29 March 2023 that his government would develop the Northeye site to house up to 1,200 migrants, with the Home Office completing the sale for around £15.4m in September 2023.
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Initially, the price for Northeye was set to be £14.5m, however, it later rose – in part due to the Home Office underestimating how long it would take to complete the purchase.
No work has been started at the site, and the new government has not decided what to do with it. The NAO says housing developers have registered interest in developing the site.
Lou Calvey, director of charity Asylum Matters, which campaigns for migrants to be housed in communities instead of camps, said more than £15m of public money was “thrown away on a contaminated and dangerous site that should never have been under consideration”.
A Labour spokesperson said: “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 serious questions about Kemi Badenoch’s judgement to appoint someone to her shadow cabinet who has no regard for public money.
“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, said: “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 Home Office spokesperson said: “The contents of this report relate to the previous government’s purchase of the Northeye site.
“Having inherited an asylum system under exceptional strain, with tens of thousands of cases stuck in a backlog, we remain committed to ending the use of hotels and housing people in more suitable and cost-effective accommodation, achieving better value 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.”
Sky News has approached Mr Jenrick and Sir Oliver for comment.
