Haslar Immigration Removal Centre: Plans to reopen Gosport site to continue as part of removals drive

Yvette Cooper has signalled she will press ahead with the previous government’s plan to reopen two immigration centres in a bid to achieve the highest rate of removals since Theresa May’s premiership.

The Home Secretary Yvette Cooper signalled she will press ahead with the previous government’s plan for the Gosport site with the Border Security Command “gearing up” after the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats topped 19,000 this year so far.

The Labour Government has pledged “290 added immigration removals” beds at Campsfield House in Kidlington, Oxfordshire and Haslar in Gosport – centres which had previously closed down.

Gosport Borough Council granted planning permission for demolition work at Haslar ahead of refurbishment earlier this year with conservatories, a sentry box, a container, a server room, a reception building, an education store, a dining area, a modular classroom, a smoking shelter, garages and greenhouses all needing to be removed. There are also plans to remove vehicular gates, framework, bracketry, cabling, pipework, trunking, plant equipment and signage.

This led to hopes that a refurbished 600-bed centre in Dolphin Way could finally reopen by the end of the year after the site was closed in 2015, and then earmarked in 2022 for refurbishment and redevelopment for reuse by immigration. Originally a reopening date of the end of 2023 was pencilled in, but eight years after its closure, it still isn’t open and no new date has been announced.

As previously reported by The News, Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage said the plan, which could create 200 jobs, had been delayed due to asbestos. However she made a plea for Gosport residents to be kept up to date with the plans for the site.

In addition to new beds at immigration removals centres at Haslar and another site near Oxford, Ms Cooper will front plans to boost staffing at the National Crime Agency (NCA), the UK-wide body which has around 70 active investigations into people smuggling and trafficking groups.

“Our new Border Security Command is already gearing up, with new staff being urgently recruited and additional staff already stationed across Europe,” Ms Cooper said.

The unit is designed to draw together work of different intelligence agencies, police, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force.

Ms Cooper said new officials would “work with European enforcement agencies to find every route in to smashing the criminal smuggling gangs organising dangerous boat crossings which undermine our border security and put lives at risk”.

The Home Secretary also said: “By increasing enforcement capabilities and returns, we will establish a system that is better controlled and managed, in place of the chaos that has blighted the system for far too long.”

According to the Home Office, ministers have set their sights on achieving over the next six months “the highest rate of removals of those with no right to be here, including failed asylum seekers” since 2018. A person who is not allowed to remain in the UK can be taken to any country or territory where they will be admitted, using existing legislation.

The previous Conservative government spent around £700 million on its flagship Rwanda scheme before the General Election earlier this year, according to Labour ministers’ figures unveiled in July. The programme, to remove some people who had arrived in England by small boat to east Africa, agreed in a treaty between London and Kigali, was intended as a deterrent. Just four volunteers arrived in Rwanda and Sir Keir Starmer declared the scheme “dead and buried” within two days after he became Prime Minister.

The Home Office further pledged intelligence-led business targeting as part of the package, to crack down on firms which employ people who do not have the right to work in the UK. Up to 100 new specialists could help work on around 70 NCA investigations into smuggling and trafficking networks.

NCA director general of operations Rob Jones said: “Tackling organised immigration crime remains a key priority for the NCA and we are dedicating more effort and resource than ever before. These extra officers will play a key role in that, with the NCA currently leading around 70 investigations into the highest harm people smuggling and trafficking groups.

“Taking on these dangerous and exploitative gangs requires international co-operation and we continue to further enhance our already strong relationship with Europol and other law enforcement partners. We are determined to do all we can to disrupt and dismantle these networks, whether they are operating in the UK or overseas.”

Home Office figures showed 206 migrants crossed the English Channel in three boats on Monday, which has taken the 2024 provisional total crossings to 19,294. This is a 10 per cent increase on the figure recorded last year, which was 17,620. But the latest figure is 10 per cent down on 2022, when 21,344 crossings were recorded in the same period.

“This new Government must urgently take action to get a grip on these ever rising crossing numbers,” Mr Cleverly said on the weekend. “When Labour ditched our deterrent (the Rwanda plan) they sent a dangerous signal to the people smugglers that they were not willing to take the tough action necessary to control our borders, and the smugglers are reaping the benefits.”

News of the action follows a wave of anti-immigration protests around the country, including in Portsmouth.