Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Home Office spent millions on multiple abandoned or problematic large asylum sites.
Conclusion
In 2023, the Home Office was acquiring several large asylum accommodation sites at the same time, including the Bibby Stokholm vessel in Dorset and the former RAF base in Scampton, Lincolnshire.16 The Home Office has spent more than £34 million on the Bibby Stockholm vessel, which will be not be used after January 2025.17 In April 2024, the Home Office told the previous Public Accounts Committee it expected to accommodate a maximum of 400 people on board the Bibby Stockholm vessel by June 2024, although it had originally planned to accommodate approximately 500 people on board.18 The Home Office also spent around £60 million on the site in Scampton, which it has announced it will now not use as it no longer represents value for money.19 Moreover, the Home Office spent £2.9 million in 2022–23 preparing the former RAF base in Linton–on–Ouse to accommodate people, but it later cancelled plans for using the site.20