New UK Government to Terminate Controversial Accommodation Barge Contract

The United Kingdom’s new Labor government is set to terminate the controversial scheme of housing migrants on the accommodation barge Bibby Stockholm. In the latest move aimed at overturning numerous policies by the ousted Conservative government, the new prime minister announced the contract for the barge will not be renewed when it expires in January.

The Bibby Stockholm, an accommodation vessel built in 1976 and operated by Bibby Marine, is docked at Portland Port, in Dorset, where it has been housing up to 500 single male migrants. The scheme has been the subject of criticism not only due to conditions aboard, which have been investigated due to disease outbreaks, but also due to its financial burden on UK taxpayers.

The new government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer has now resolved to terminate the housing of migrants on the barge as part of measures to fix the asylum system. By not renewing the contract for Bibby Stockholm, the government contends it will save £20 million ($25.7 million) next year.

The government highlights that ending the use of the barge forms part of the expected £7.7 billion ($10 billion) of savings in asylum costs over the next decade, as the country takes action to restart asylum casework, clear the backlog, and remove those it contends have no right to be in the UK.

“We are determined to restore order to the asylum system, so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly; and ensures the rules are properly enforced,” said Dame Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum. She added that the new administration has set out plans to start clearing the asylum backlog and making savings on accommodation that has been running up vast bills for the taxpayer.

The decision not to renew the contract for Bibby Stockholm is set to bring to a close what many have described as a “dark chapter” in the UK’s handling of the growing challenge of asylum seekers arriving in the country by crossing the English Channel using small boats.

Government data show that 29,400 people crossed the Channel in small boats in 2023 compared to 46,000 in 2022. This year, the numbers have been on an unprecedented upward swing with 14,058 people crossing as of early July. This is significantly above the numbers for the same period in the previous four years.

Since Bibby Stockholm started housing migrants, there have been cases of disease outbreaks, water contamination, and at least one death, which is believed to have been a case of suicide. Residents of Portland also opposed the mooring of the barge in their harbor.

As part of overhauling the immigration plans of the previous government, Labor has also scrapped another controversial scheme to ship asylum seekers to Rwanda. The Rwanda plan was projected to cost at least £220 million ($284 million), but no deportation has yet occurred.

In its efforts to create a faster, fairer asylum system, the new government highlighted that it has begun rapid recruitment of a new border security commander and committed a 50 percent increase in UK officers at Europol in order to boost intelligence sharing, disrupt criminal people smugglers and bring them to justice.