Asylum: Penally Camp

(asked on 21st January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2021 to Question 136619 on Asylum: Military Bases, what the Government's timetable is for the transfer of all individuals of the Penally training camp.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 26th January 2021

There are currently 118 asylum seekers accommodated at Penally training camp, Pembrokeshire.

The Home Office and Clearsprings Ready Homes have worked intensively with Welsh Government, Public Health Wales, Hywel Dda University Health Board and Dyfed, Powys police and other partners as we have stood up and are now operating on the site.

The Penally training camp is temporary, contingency accommodation whilst we continue to address the issues putting pressure on our asylum accommodation. The MOD has given permission to use the site for 12 months.

At present the Home Office will continue to regularly move small numbers of people out of Penally into Dispersal Accommodation in line with business as usual processes and will continue to route new people into Penally in line with public health guidance.

Those asylum seekers being moved to Dispersal Accommodation will not be moved to the other Ministry of Defence site currently in use; Napier Barracks. This site is also providing temporary contingency accommodation for asylum seekers whilst their claims are examined.

Accommodation for supported asylum seekers is arranged by private sector providers through contractual arrangements with the Home Office. Dispersal Accommodation is a mixture of Homes of Multiple Occupancy (HMO’s), flats, houses or hostel-based properties. Location will be based on the availability of properties suitable for each asylum seekers needs.

Our accommodation providers are also working to maximise accommodation procurement opportunities throughout the UK, however they can only do so with local authority agreement. It is our intention to move all individuals in contingency accommodation into suitable dispersed accommodation dependent upon it becoming available.

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