Council rules out legal action over Home Office plans to accommodate asylum seekers on barge
Dorset Council has ruled out legal action over a Home Office plan to house asylum seekers on a barge on the Isle of Portland after reviewing specialist legal advice and "the experience other councils have had across the country".
Commenting on the plan in early May (3 May), Dorset Council leader, Cllr Spencer Flower, said the council had "serious reservations" about the site.
But in a statement this week (6 June), a council spokesperson said: "After much careful consideration, Dorset Council has decided to not pursue legal action to challenge the Home Office's decision to site a barge for asylum seekers in Portland Port.
"Based on specialist legal advice, and the experience other councils have had across the country, any legal action we take is unlikely to be successful and would incur high costs to Dorset taxpayers."
It added: "We are committed to working with the Home Office and our partners to ensure minimal impact to public services for local people and that provision for the asylum seekers is properly resourced and is effective."
The Home Office plan is part of a policy to move away from the costly practice of placing asylum seekers in hotels. The barge will accommodate up to 500 asylum seekers and will be moored in Portland Port near Weymouth.
Three Government owned sites have also been selected to accommodate asylum seekers as part of the new policy.
The Home Office is facing judicial review from local councils in the case of two of the disused sites, Wethersfield Airfield and RAF Scampton.
The Court of Appeal will next week hear Braintree Council’s appeal over the Wethersfield site. Local Braintree resident Gabriel Clarke-Holland and West Lindsey District Council, which has been seeking to challenge the Home Office’s plans for RAF Scampton, have been granted permission to intervene.
A local resident is meanwhile fundraising for a judicial review in regard to the third site at HMP Northeye.
Adam Carey
