The Home Office considered drafting in workers from overseas using a visa waiver scheme in the event of an outbreak of an infectious disease on the controversial Bibby Stockholm barge to accommodate asylum seekers, according to documents seen by the Guardian.
The barge is moored in Portland, Dorset. It was opened to asylum seekers on 7 August as a key part of the government’s “small boats week” to signal that it was implementing its undertakings to move asylum seekers out of hotels. However, in a blow to this policy the barge was evacuated just four days later after legionella bacteria was found in the barge’s water pipes.
It is not known when the Home Office will move asylum seekers back to the barge but there have been reports that this is due to happen in the next few days.
Freedom of information disclosures of meetings between local and national health officials and the Home Office’s contractors for the barge, Landry & Kling, in the weeks before the first groupwere moved aboard reveal references to visa-waiver plans for foreign workers, who officials thought might be needed in the event of a significant outbreak of an infectious condition on the barge.
After considering the idea, the FoI disclosures confirm that the Home Office decided not to go ahead with the plans. Home Office sources confirmed to the Guardian tthere were no plans for a visa-waiver scheme.
The notes of meetings in the FoI disclosures state: “Visa waiver scheme being worked on by Home Office to cover surge staffing in the event of an outbreak. Visa fast track approved, waiver to be discussed [14 June].”
The disclosures also raise concerns about how an outbreak of an infectious condition such as scabies, diphtheria or Covid would be handled on the barge. Various health professionals involved in the meetings raised significant concerns about the ability of local health services to cope with such outbreaks.
While the Home Office has arranged for healthcare workers to be on board five days a week and a GP to be there once a week to take any additional pressure off local NHS services, in the event of a significant outbreak of an infectious condition on the barge, local health services would need to get involved.
One senior doctor involved in the meetings said: “I have serious concerns about the capacity for existing primary care services to manage significant outbreaks, especially in the winter months.”
Another health official added: “This would potentially be a large, destabilising amount of work for the local GP service in the event of a significant outbreak.”
Brian Dikoff, of Migrants Organise, said: “The Bibby Stockholm is not safe and no amount of repurposing can make it so. It will never be a place to put people who are seeking safety here to rebuild their lives. We need compassionate and safe infrastructure to support individuals and welcome them into our communities.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The health and welfare of asylum seekers remains of the utmost priority. The Home Office and our contractors are following all protocols and advice from Dorset council’s environmental health team, the UK Health Security Agency and Dorset NHS, who we continue to work closely with.”
Home Office sources said there were no plans for a visa waiver or any arrangements being agreed for health workers in case of an outbreak.
