Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to suspend the use of the Penally training camp as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers between 21 March and mid-April 2021 as the camp will be under occupation but without the requisite planning consents in place during that period.

The Home Office secured use of the site for six months under emergency provisions within the Town and Country Planning regulations, Part 37 of which can be used for Crown emergency development. We are aware of the need for further planning consent for use of the site beyond March 2021.

Any further planning application will be made in line with the legal requirements and in consultation with the County Council local planning authority and other statutory bodies

There have been no confirmed cases of Covid at the Penally Training camp since September 2020.