Home Office Scraps Plans to House Illegal Immigrants at Dambusters Air Base

A view of RAF Scampton where the "Dambusters" were based during the Second World War, in Lincoln, England, on March 29, 2023. Callum Parke/PA Wire

The Home Office has scrapped plans to move illegal immigrants onto RAF Scampton, previously home to the World War II 617 Squadron known as the “Dambusters.”

The department said in a statement on Thursday that opening the site this autumn would have cost £122 million by the end of its use in 2027, which did not represent value for money for the taxpayer.

Some £60 million had already been spent due to work and commitments to the project by the previous Conservative government, taking the total running costs to over £180 million had the plan gone ahead.

Closing the site will happen immediately and its sale will be made in line with the process for disposing of Crown land.

In a written statement to the House of Commons, Home Office Minister Dame Angela Eagle said: “This Government are mindful of their inherited financial position and are determined to ensure that we deliver the best services at the best value for money for the taxpayer.

“We have also listened to community feedback highlighting the concerns about the history of the site and alternative development plans.”

Council Welcomes News

Plans to use the former Lincolnshire air base, which was also the home of the Red Arrows between 1983 and 2022, as a residence for male illegal immigrants had triggered legal challenges from the local council since the government confirmed the air base was earmarked for use in April 2023.

West Lindsey District Council (WLDC) had to put on hold plans for regeneration investment for the former Ministry of Defence site worth £300 million. There were also preservation concerns, with the site including the Grade II listed officers’ mess hall.

WLDC leader Councillor Trevor Young welcomed the news, saying: “We have always been clear that the best use for this historic, key strategic asset was to unlock the potential to drive economic growth and prosperity in our place, for Lincolnshire and beyond.

“Today we can finally put to bed an incredibly difficult period for our community and focus time, energy and resource on this once in a generation opportunity to honour the heritage of this site through regeneration and the delivery of investment in jobs and skills.”

The council said it would accelerate the regeneration plans and was committed to finalising the contract with Scampton Holdings Limited, which said it would be working with local partners and investors to realise the potential for the site.

‘Victory’

Sir Edward Leigh, the Conservative MP for the Gainsborough consistency which includes the base, hailed the news as a “victory.”

Leigh posted to social media platform X, “This vindicates what I have said in countless questions and speeches in Parliament that the plan to house migrants at Scampton was not good value for money.”

However, Leigh called for the full regeneration package to go ahead, “and the site not just sold for housing.”

“I talked to the minister ... and I impressed on her the need for Scampton to be sold not necessarily to the highest bidder but with a consortium deal that will get regeneration going,” he said.

A view of RAF Wethersfield in Essex, England, on March 29, 2023. Joe Giddens/PA Wire

Labour MP for Lincoln Hamish Falconer similarly said on X that he hoped the council and investors will buy the site, adding that he would be working with all local councils and MPs “to try and make sure that this historic site gets the investment and the heritage respect that it deserves.”

The initial decision to house illegal immigrants at large sites like RAF Scampton, RAF Wethersfield in Essex, and the Bibby Stockholm barge off the coast of Dorset was an attempt by the previous government to end the disorder and high costs of putting illegal immigrants up in hotels.

In July, the new Labour government said it would close the Bibby Stockholm facility by January, with the Home Office saying that its plans to clear the asylum backlog would result in less demand for large-scale accommodation.

Last month, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that the new Border Security Command was “gearing up” to tackle illegal immigration, announcing the expansion of the immigration detention and removal estate to aid the removal of those with no legal right to be in the country.

In her update on border security and asylum on Thursday, Eagle said that work was advancing on the government’s planned border security, asylum, and immigration bill which “will include provisions to give the border security system, including law enforcement partners, stronger powers to disrupt, investigate and prosecute organised criminals facilitating organised immigration crime.”

Eagle said the bill would be introduced at the earliest opportunity.