Plans to house hundreds of male asylum seekers at Cameron Barracks ditched

Originally the UK government had wanted to move 300 asylum seekers into the 140-year-old barracks back in December for 12 months, but the plans were delayed.

This was part of the government’s drive to close asylum hotels. The government previously said it was “furious” at the level of illegal migrants in asylum hotels and said “more suitable sites, such as military bases” were being considered as alternatives.

However Angus MacDonald, the Lib Dem MP for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire, said UK Border Security Minister Alex Norris has told him the plan has been dropped.

Mr MacDonald said: “This is the right outcome, and it is a result of the strength of feeling shown by residents, and by the military families connected to Cameron Barracks who made their concerns heard from the very start.”

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He added: “There was also a strong local feeling that the site itself was simply too close to the city centre, schools and residential areas.

“The sense of closing asylum hotels in town centres in the south of England while opening an Inverness asylum barracks similarly poorly located defied logic.”

Highland Council said it believed the Home Office would need to apply for a house of multiple occupancy licence, which is usually needed to house three unrelated people who share a bathroom and kitchen. Applying for one of these licences can take up to three years.

In March, Highland Council said it had discussed this with the Home Office, but had not received an application.

Mr MacDonald claims the Home Office assumed a HMO licence would not be needed because the barracks had previously been used for Afghan resettlement.

He said: “Highland Council’s insistence that the Home Office complies with the HMO requirement undoubtedly played a large role in this decision.”

The MP added that despite the “initial poor communication” around housing asylum seekers at Cameron Barracks, Mr Norris and his officials had “engaged constructively” with him and his team.

Mr MacDonald added: “I will continue to hold ministers to the standard that decisions affecting the Highlands must be made with the Highlands, not done to them.”

Tim Eagle, Scottish Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands, said: “Inverness residents will be relieved that the Labour government has finally seen sense and abandoned this misguided plan.

“Cameron Barracks was entirely the wrong site for housing 300 male asylum seekers - and that’s before you take into account the impact on key local services already stretched to breaking point by SNP cuts.

“But instead of listening to local people who currently use the barracks, as well as the Queen’s own Highlanders veterans who were shamefully threatened with eviction, Labour ploughed on regardless, wasting taxpayers’ money on a proposal that was never fit for purpose.

“That money would have been far better spent supporting our armed forces or strengthening our borders than pursuing a scheme that was always going to collapse.”

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “The Scottish Government, together with partners including Highland Council and NHS Highland, repeatedly raised questions regarding the practical suitability of the site to provide adequate accommodation and support for this cohort of people seeking asylum, taking into account the anticipated pressure the proposal would create on local public services, particularly health services, and the impact on local community tensions.

“The UK Government failed to adequately answer these questions.

“The reported decision not to proceed is in the best interests of the local community and the people who would have been accommodated at the site.”

The Home Office has been approached for comment.