Costs of housing migrants on Portland barge revealed
A Freedom on Information request has uncovered the figures
Housing asylum seekers on Portland's migrant barge could end up costing taxpayers nearly £35 million.
Figures obtained in a Freedom of Information Request suggest it works out at £4,500 per month per resident.
Campaigners claim it would be cheaper to provide them with a flat in Chelsea.
They want Dorset Council to show exactly where the money it received from the Home Office has been spent.
Home Office figures also show that the barge had 321 migrants on board at the end of January, with running costs to April put at £12.9 million.
That doesn't include grants to Dorset Police, voluntary organisations working with barge residents or Home Office administration costs.
Campaigner Kate Robson put in the FOI request and told a Dorset Council meeting in a statement:
“Portland Port’s and the Home Office's covert, non-consultive, under the table business transition to moor the Bibby Stockholm at Portland Port has probably been the most divisive decision ever made within Weymouth & Portland. It serves no purpose and has failed to hit any of its objectives. It is not more cost effective nor is it a deterrent.”
She is asking the Council to show exactly how the money it has received from the Home Office has been spent and is questioning why Dorset Council appears to be recruiting two full-time social workers to work primarily with asylum seekers on Portland when the contract for the barge runs out in 18 months time.
Her statement ends, suggesting that she believes an extension to the contract is likely: “how can a possible extension be substantiated given the cost and failures?"