Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason people accomodated on the Bibby Stockholm barge are transported to Weymouth by a full size bus; what the cost to the public purse is for this service; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using a minibus for this service.

Those resident on the barge are not detained. Through our contracted service provider, the Home Office provides a bus service to take asylum seekers from the port to destinations agreed with local agencies. This is designed to ensure the movement of asylum seekers on and off the vessel is orderly and controlled, with the impact on the surrounding community as small as possible.

Financial assessments are carried out and reviewed regularly on the overall cost of each large site and vessel to test the value for money to the taxpayer.