Joint statement from Dorset Council and Dorset Police
Dorset Council and Dorset Police have set out their shared position on the Home Office’s plans to house asylum seekers on a barge in Portland Port later this year.
The organisations have questions about the proposal that remain unanswered and continue to seek clarity from the Home Office on plans. Both agencies have statutory responsibilities to ensure minimal impact on local services, should the Home Office’s plan go ahead.
Cllr Spencer Flower, Leader, Dorset Council, says:
“Dorset Council’s position has not changed. We still have serious reservations about the appropriateness of Portland Port in this scenario and we remain opposed to the proposals.
“However, like all local agencies, we have statutory responsibilities to fulfil and collectively we want to ensure robust arrangements are in place if this goes ahead.
“We still have unanswered questions which we are waiting for the Home Office and the barge operator to respond to. I want to reassure local people and businesses that Dorset Council, along with its trusted partners, is working to address concerns.”
David Sidwick, Police and Crime Commissioner stated:
“I would like to reassure Dorset residents that Dorset Police have started the necessary and detailed planning required to ensure both asylum seekers and residents will be kept safe. Currently though, they also have detailed questions that need answering and that are necessary to ensure the safety of all concerned.
“I have been and remain in regular contact with both the Home Secretary and the Policing Minister, with regard to the funding that will be required to meet the extra policing needs that this project will entail.
“I am determined that the funding should not come from the current police budget or from the people of Dorset and I will continue to push the government to fully fund the necessary security requirements brought about by the decision they have made to site this barge here in our county.”
A multi-agency forum (MAF) which includes representatives from national, regional and local public sector agencies and the Home Office, has therefore been established and meets weekly.
Four sub-groups have also been set up in addition to the MAF to look at the operational plans for provision of health services, the safety and security of both asylum seekers and local residents, regulatory arrangements, and voluntary sector involvement. They are:
- Health (Social Care and Public Health included)
- Safety and Security
- Place and Regulatory Services
- Community and wider stakeholder engagement and communication
This group meets weekly to discuss plans and arrangements. The collective aim is to ensure minimal impact on local services, communities and businesses.
Dorset Council and Dorset Police will continue to seek clarification from the Home Office on how it plans to operate the barge.
I am a OAP resident on Portland and it currently takes about 4 weeks to get an appointment face to face with my doctor. 500 asylum seekers will need health care so will they be signing on to are local understaffed surgeries?
Hello Les, this is the type of question our councillors are pressing the Home Office for answers on, but we are still waiting for a response. The Home Office has compiled this fact sheet which may help in the meantime, but I appreciate doesn’t answer your specific question at the moment. It is being updated daily where possible https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-accommodation-factsheets/factsheet-asylum-accommodation-on-a-vessel-in-portland-port-accessible Thanks, Kirstie
Do they realize the nearest hospital is in Dorchester approx 25 miles away ? Ok having your own medical staff onboard but who gets priority if they want an ambulance the same time as a Portland resident .?
Hi Leslie, this is something the Health sub group is looking into. Kirstie
My concern is, large groups of single men wondering around Weymouth, with nothing to do. We have a right, to be worried and the effect it will have on our family orientated seaside town and also affect our tourism.
We have a priority to our own homeless and although we have a brilliant voluntary sector, they need more permanent homes.
Something is not quite right here !!!!!
A very appropriate berthing place for the barge is right outside the Houses of Parliament on the River Thames. The MP’s can then have the pleasure of looking at the Barge everyday – maybe the daily view of the Barge will make them apply themselves on sorting out this issue once and for all.
When all these young men started to invade Europe, I suggested to Michael Tomlinson that the UK should take them all, and put them on the Isle of Wight. The UK could have charged the EU for the service. After about six months on the island I expect most of them would have wanted to go home.
If or when this happens, how long do you think it will be before the cruise companies decide that they would rather dock somewhere else.
I mean, can you imagine the likes of the Disney princess wanting to pull up along side an asylum seekers barge.
If this was one of the stops on my cruise itinerary, i would seriously consider another cruise line, with a different destination.
Our town, with the few shops we have left, needs as many tourists as we can get, NOT 500 free loading, council draining asylum seekers.
Hi .I recently closed The Eastside Barbers in Easton last year because of ridiculous hike in rent from my landlord , but was wondering if the asylum barge would require my services as barber on the barge and if so would there be funding for my services ?and if possible could you please direct me in the right direction to obtain this information. Many thanks sean
Hi Sean, I will email you direct with contact details for this. Thanks, Kirstie
What about utilities for this barge? I am thinking in particular of sewage and pollution. And how will all this be managed with extreme weather events?
Hi Adam, this is something we are waiting for confirmation on from the Home Office, the Port and the Barge Operators. Kirstie.
Pity more affluent areas are not being considered – to accommodate the barge and help with jobs, how about Poole? it looks proper nasty for anyone to live on . No doubt if it’s put here it will be an eye sore forever
Hi Jayne, there are already a similar number of asylum seekers based in the BCP council area. Kirstie
As a tourism business that needs to promote both the history and the Jurassic coast, can I ask if the Government will be subsidising my loss of earnings due to their bad decision to ignore local interests and moor this massive “eye-sore” in one of the Cruise Liner visiting ports in the UK?
I cannot comprehend why anyone would want to visit the area, never mind the local population issues which have been raised by so many residents in the area.
Weymouth, Portland, and the surrounding Dorset Coast rely on a tourism income to survive the extortionate increase in costs – perhaps the vessel should be moored on the other side of the English Channel, where refugees can apply for asylum before risking their lives crossing the same water to get here in the first place? If it needs to be a UK destination, then perhaps impose this vessel on the Channel Islands?
Make up your mind on how you support these requests – the next Local and Government Elections are coming up, and we are all watching!
Hi Dave, we are waiting for answers to questions which Dorset Council has raised with the Home Office in terms of funding. Unfortunately we don’t have many of the answers to a broad range of questions, and Dorset Council’s position is that it is still opposed to this plan. Please do direct any questions to the Home Office on 020 7035 4848 or email public.enquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk thanks, Kirstie
Many of us strongly doubt the credibility of government assurances that this barge meets the mandatory requirements on fire safety and maritime safety, given the use its being put to (housing up to 550 asylum seekers and supporting staff) and the layout of the site at the Port.
The “Guardian” has been approached by a retired Captain of a large ship who acts as an expert witness on maritime issues and believes the “Bibby Stockholm” doesn’t fulfil the mandatory requirements for safety.
Can the Mayor’s legal team investigate whether this retired Captain is correct in his view? I note “weasel words” by the government about the barge passing “berthed vessels” regulations (I was unable to find out what such regulations might be as Google didn’t identify any regulations pertaining to “berthed vessels”). In reality the “Bibby Stockholm ” is best regarded as a large passenger ship tied up to a dock for X months. By this standard, it seems to badly fail fire safety requirements on the number and dimensions of direct exits allowing people to escape the ship in an emergency. It also has too high a percentage of blind corridors to meet mandatory safety requirements.
I also ask the Mayor to see whether she can INSIST on a proper fire safety assessment being done by experts chosen by the Fire Brigade Union, also a proper fire drill (filmed and published to the public) to discover whether 500 people could exit a “smoke”-filled barge before the fire causing the “smoke” killed them.
Thanks for your comments, Linda. The Mayor is part of Portland Town Council, not Dorset Council. Please contact them for responses to your questions directed at her – office@portlandtowncouncil.gov.uk
Thanks, K