Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) whether the outbreak of COVID-19 at Napier Barracks is now over, and (2) the safety of Napier Barracks for new arrivals of asylum seekers.

There is currently nobody housed at Napier Barracks who has tested positive for COVID 19. The previous outbreak was declared over on 6 March 2021.

We have sought Public Health England advice on how we can make best use of this accommodation, working within the constraints of the configuration, whilst minimising risks from COVID-19.

We are using dormitories as shared rooms, but limiting occupancy ensuring a minimum distance between beds of at least 2 metres. This is complemented by a range of additional safety measures including increased cleaning of surfaces, availability of hand sanitisers, a track and trace system, three weekly lateral flow tests for residents and staff and lateral flow tests on arrival for visitors. We also communicate with residents around COVID-19 control measures.

We continue to work with health and public health bodies to ensure an acceptable level of risk in relation to Covid-19.