Home Office quietly reduces numbers and lengths of stay for asylum seekers in Linton plan

Group fighting 'Yorkshire Guantanamo' centre accuses government of 'evading' public scrutiny

People campaign against the proposed asylum centre in Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire, on May 19.

An action group fighting against government plans to open an asylum centre say the Home Office has revised its factsheet to remove the numbers of migrants it proposes to house.

The Home Office had announced it was going to move 1,500 asylum seekers into the northern England village of Linton-on-Ouse in May.

It was forced to halt proceedings after the local council issued a pre-action legal letter over not being consulted on the plans to build the centre, whose critics have called it Yorkshire Guantanamo.

The government had published an official factsheet on the plans in April but has recently altered it.

"The Home Office Factsheet has been revised. The revisions indicate serious flaws in the Home Office initial plan and attempted evasion as public scrutiny increases," the Linton on Ouse Action Group said.

"Following Linton Action Group challenges, the factsheet states the Home Office is listening to community feedback. Yet the Home Office continues to not offer any responses to concerns raised or engage voluntarily with the community.

"The Home Office has removed the statement that 'no vulnerable Asylum Seekers will be accommodated' and 'the community' is now omitted from stakeholders the Home Office wishes to work with.

"The Home Office has also removed the maximum six month stay, indicating Linton will do little to address the Home Office’s delays and inefficiencies in processing applications. The proposed number of asylum seekers, having already been revised from 500 to 1500 is now not declared."

On Friday, Hambleton District Council, which governs the area, said it still had not received a response from the government after it threatened legal action if the proposal went ahead.

“We continue to await a response from the Home Office in relation to the Pre-Action Protocol letter issued a few weeks ago," councillor Mark Robson, leader of Hambleton District Council, said.

“The Home Office has provided a response to the Planning Contravention Notice which our legal team has responded to.

“We have provided further information and comments to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) in response to further information provided by the Home Office in respect to questions DLUHC asked relating to the need for an Environmental Impact Assessment.

“We continue to seek legal advice and await further information from the Home Office with regard their intentions for the site going forward," Mr Robson said.

“At present we continue to understand that no final decision has been taken by ministers to accommodate asylum seekers at RAF Linton and that we will receive at least seven days’ notice from the Home Office should they intend to begin moving people onto the site.

“A definitive decision on the council’s next steps has not yet been made as we are expecting to receive a substantive response to the Pre-Action Protocol letter imminently.”

The Home Office is awaiting the response before considering its next move.

It had originally attempted to push ahead with the plans without consulting the community.

More than 1,500 single men seeking asylum could be housed in the former RAF base in the village, where Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, trained.

Councillor Darryl Smalley labelled the programme “Guantanamo-on-Ouse” and demanded the government backtrack, calling it “ill thought out”.

Thousands of people have complained about the project and the local police force has been carrying out daily patrols to reassure residents.

The Home Office said the site will contain healthcare and leisure facilities, including a football pitch, library and cinema.

In its latest update, the Home Office said: "We are listening to community feedback as we continue to work on proposals to use the site at Linton-on-Ouse as an asylum reception centre which would be as self-sufficient as possible.

"We maintain the site is urgently needed to provide essential asylum accommodation and would assist as we end the use of asylum seekers using hotels, which is costing the taxpayer almost £5million a day."