Recommendation 14

The Home Office assessed the acquisition against the Accounting Officer tests, concluding that the proposal met the tests of regularity, propriety and feasibility, presented in the Accounting Officer Advice. The assessment also found that the use of the site for asylum accommodation represented value for money when compared with the cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels over a period of five years. The Accounting Officer Advice did however note significant risks to feasibility, including the critical risk that it might not be possible to connect the site to utilities. The National Audit Office reported there was limited reference in the Accounting Officer Advice to the potential scale of contamination or the need for further investigation, despite reports raising contamination as an issue with potentially high associated costs.36 The Home Office told us it prioritised the Northeye site due to its “size, flexibility and location”. 37 While it had conducted some due diligence, it only commissioned full contamination surveys after the completion of the sale in September 2023.38 The Home Office acknowledged that, at the time of the Northeye acquisition, it believed it would have been “impossible” to know all the risks involved. However, it accepted that it could have discovered more if it had “slowed down and done the extra assurance”.39 The National Audit Office reported that in November 2023, the Home Office identified lessons learnt from the acquisition, including that decisions had been made at a senior level with incomplete information and before exploring concerns about the suitability of the site.40 The Home Office emphasised it now places due diligence at the forefront of its acquisitions.41