Home Office bids to extend asylum site use beyond April 2027

Summarised from 4 outlets · Updated 9 Nov, 11:56 · Archive

The Home Office has applied to extend the use of MDP Wethersfield beyond April 2027 to house asylum seekers.

The government has applied to continue using MDP Wethersfield, a former military airbase near Braintree, to house asylum seekers beyond April 2027, when its current planning permission expires. The site has accommodated single adult male asylum seekers since July 2023.

The Home Office is pursuing this extension as part of its plan to close asylum hotels and move residents to alternative accommodation including former military sites. The government says it has saved over £1 billion in costs since the election and states that these sites are designed to be self-contained with 24/7 security and CCTV to reduce the impact on local communities. The Home Office added that no decision has yet been made on the site's long-term future.

The government is also seeking to extend the use of another site, Crowborough, until 2030. Before the general election, 400 hotels were housing asylum seekers at a cost of £9 million a day. The Home Office says the number of hotels in use has fallen from 213 in July 2024 to fewer than 160 now, and the number of people staying in asylum hotels has fallen to 16,000, down 50 per cent from last year.

Local opposition is strong. Essex County Council leader Peter Harris said Wethersfield is the wrong facility in the wrong location and pledged to consider every option available to challenge further expansion. Braintree District Council leader Tom Cunningham said the site remained unsuitable and should close as soon as possible. Essex County Council previously hired security guards to patrol areas frequently visited by asylum seekers from the site.

Essex Police Chief Constable Rachel Nolan stated that crime linked to the large-scale asylum accommodation in the county was 'very low'.

Home Office bids to extend asylum site use beyond April 2027 — Image: Brentwood Guardian

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How it is being reported

Government seeks to extend asylum accommodation at Wethersfield beyond 2027Home Office seeks to extend asylum seeker accommodation at MDP Wethersfield, Essex, beyond April 2027 as ministers work to end asylum hotel use.Brentwood Guardian · 9 Nov, 11:31
Government seeks to extend asylum accommodation at Wethersfield beyond 2027Home Office seeks to extend asylum seeker accommodation at MDP Wethersfield, Essex, beyond April 2027 as ministers work to end asylum hotel use.Echo (Basildon) · 9 Nov, 11:31
Government seeks to extend asylum accommodation at Wethersfield beyond 2027Home Office seeks to extend asylum seeker accommodation at MDP Wethersfield, Essex, beyond April 2027 as ministers work to end asylum hotel use.Colchester Gazette · 9 Nov, 11:31
Home Office bid to use asylum site beyond AprilThe government has applied to extend the use of MDP Wethersfield beyond April 2027, when it expires.BBC Essex · 9 Nov, 06:28

In this story: MDP Wethersfield · Home Office · Essex County Council · Peter Harris · Rachel Nolan · Tom Cunningham · Braintree · Essex

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