Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Biddy Stockholm barge which will house asylum seekers in Portland Port, Dorset is as advertised designed to accommodate 222 people; and how that vessel will accommodate more people than that figure.

The provision of an accommodation barge at Portland Port will provide the capacity for a maximum of 506 asylum seekers. The vessel will contain multiple occupancy rooms that are an appropriate size for the number of occupants in the appropriate space standard. The vessel will always remain in line with marine industry safety regulations and meet all statutory requirements.