Immigration Minister Anna Turley responds to rumours asylum seekers are moving into Weeton Barracks
“We are looking at other sites across the country but that (Weeton) has not crossed my desk.”
Ongoing rumours that asylum seekers who were living at Blackpool’s Metropole Hotel will move on to Weeton Barracks have been quashed by a senior member of Andy Burnham’s Government.
Anna Turley, the Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum, visited Blackpool on Tuesday to formally announce that the Government was delivering on its pledge to end the use of asylum hotels for good – including the resort’s Metropole Hotel.
The minister confirmed that the use of former army camps was now the preferred choice of accommodation for the migrants and the Government was already looking at a number of sites.
But she said Weeton Barracks, which is still in use by the army, was not one of them and wasn’t earmarked for migrants.
There have been numerous social media posts speculating that Weeton, which housed a number of Afghan refugees three years ago, is the next destination for former Metropole occupants.
What Minister said
Asked about Weeton, Mrs Turley said: “I’ve not heard that place-name to be honest – we have two existing former MoD sites that we’re using for asylum seekers and we have another three in the pipeline, so at the moment they’re our priorities to get them on board and up-and-running.
“We are looking at other sites across the country but that (Weeton) has not crossed my desk.
“I’m sure Chris Webb would be the first to ask any questions about that.”
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Sites that have been earmarked or are being considered for the migrants are: MoD Bicester (Oxfordshire, proposed for up to 1,200 people); MoD Barnham (Suffolk); RAF Linton-on-Ouse (North Yorkshire); Crowborough Training Camp (East Sussex ), which is (currently active and proposed for extension); RAF Wethersfield (Essex) – currently active and targeted for capacity expansion.
Mr Webb, the MP for Blackpool South, has previously stressed that Weeton Barracks would not be earmarked for the migrants.
He said this week: “These rumours about Weeton come from that fact that it was a camp for refugees a few years back but I’ve received no indication from the Home Office or anywhere, of proposals that Weeton will be turned into an asylum camp.
“Those that were here in the Metropole were moved to other hotels across the North West, North East and Eastern region as part of SERCO’s estate, and some of these single individuals in the hotel were moved to re-used army barracks in the south of England.
“So no, there’s no truth to any of those rumours, no truth that there are other asylum hotels in Blackpool or that they’ve been put into additional housing here in Blackpool. They’ve moved across the country into other estates.”
He added: “Blackpool’s quota, for its small amount of dispersal accommodation, about 0.33 percent of our housing stock, has not increased and we won’t see any plans to increase it.”