The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) has begun an inspection of the use of hotels and barracks as contingency asylum accommodation and is inviting anyone with relevant knowledge or experience to submit their evidence to chiefinspector@icibi.gov.uk.

The call for evidence will remain open for four weeks (until 19 February 2021).

This inspection will examine the use made of hotels and other forms of contingency asylum accommodation, including Penally Camp and Napier Barracks, since the beginning of 2020. It will focus on the roles and responsibilities of the Home Office and the accommodation service providers, and of other parties, in relation to the use of contingency asylum accommodation, including:

• communication between the Home Office and the accommodation service providers, and with other stakeholders (for example, local authorities, health services, NGOs who provide support to asylum seekers), regarding the need for contingency asylum accommodation in particular areas

• the process(es) for identifying potential contingency asylum accommodation and for testing and deciding about the suitability of specific sites, including with regard to Covid-19 safety

• decisions about individual asylum seekers and their needs in terms of accommodation and other support, including information sharing, record keeping, oversight and review, particularly with regard to vulnerabilities and risks

• communication between the Home Office and/or the accommodation service providers and individuals (“service users”) regarding their asylum accommodation, including any changes to that accommodation

• the strategy for reducing the requirement for contingency asylum accommodation in the short- to medium-term (to the end of 2021-22) and longer-term (through to the end of the current Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts)

ICIBI would welcome evidence in relation to any of the above points, but also in respect of any other matters that those with knowledge and experience of contingency asylum accommodation consider relevant.

Since the end of 2020, ICIBI has been speaking to and receiving evidence from a number of stakeholders, along with residents of both Penally Camp and Napier Barracks. There is no need for those who have already provided evidence to re-submit it, unless they wish to update or add to it.

Please Note: The Independent Chief Inspector is unable to assist with individual asylum claims or with complaints, but where anyone considers that the details of a claim or complaint are relevant they may include them in their evidence submission.

Data Protection

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) we need your permission to process and retain the information you submit, by clicking here a consent statement will automatically be added to your email.

However, if you are using a non-compatible email client then please send your submission to chiefinspector@icibi.gov.uk with ‘Contingency Asylum Accommodation submission’ in the subject line and include the following consent statement in the body of your email: “I consent to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration retaining and processing the information and data in this email.”

Please do not include this statement if you do not wish to give your consent. The information you submit may be quoted in the final inspection report, but it is the ICIBI’s practice not to name sources and to anonymise as much as possible any examples or case studies.

Sellafield Ltd has a key role in a consortium of industrial, aerospace and aviation giants that has won a share of a £30 million government challenge fund to develop and test a remotely operated drone system.

The futuristic system will enable remote inspection and monitoring of nuclear sites and has a range of other applications including on construction sites, oil and gas installations, road, rail and telecoms infrastructure and in providing live support to emergency services.

Led by the specialist drone command and control solution developer, Sees.ai, the consortium includes BAE Systems, Atkins, Skanska, NATS, Vodafone and a host of other organisations with unique specialisms and perspectives.

Mark Foster, Head of Specialist Equipment Services, Sellafield Ltd, said:

The specialist equipment services team provides engineering and maintenance support to the whole of Sellafield and we continually seek out areas of innovation to improve services on our complex and congested site.

This new technology has huge potential for our future operations; making our work safer, faster and more cost effective.

We’re proud to be at the forefront of a national challenge and our experienced team, together with our local supply chain partners, is demonstrating every day how we can truly make a difference for our mission and beyond.

The funding comes from the Future Flight Challenge, Phase 2 competition, part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund delivered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

UKRI is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy that works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish.

As a publicly funded organisation itself. Sellafield Ltd will not receive any of the challenge fund but the Sellafield site offers a unique testbed for the use of this technology on nuclear licensed sites and already has its own team of highly skilled and experienced drone pilots.

The drone system, which uses similar technology to autonomous cars, enables autonomous drones to be flown under tight human supervision by pilots based in a central control room hundreds of miles away.

The challenge put the drone system through a series of increasingly complex tests to see how it would respond in a range of circumstances, demonstrating significant potential for inspections and maintenance of congested and hazardous areas.

Peter Allport, Remote Handling Lead for Specialist Equipment Services, Sellafield Ltd Engineering and Maintenance said:

This technology has the potential to revolutionise how we use drones at Sellafield, increasing the operational envelope and transforming the way in which drones are piloted.

It also closes the loop between our engineering and maintenance and robotics and artificial intelligence programme; ensuring we are always using the best available technology so we can continuously improve our service to the Sellafield site and the rest of the NDA Group.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) recently worked with the Premier League to deliver an online awareness session for clubs, looking at the work that DBS does and how we can work together to make recruitment safer.

The Partnership and Engagement team at DBS, who are also responsible for delivery of the DBS Conference, work regularly with other organisations, looking at how we can collaborate and share key messages amongst the safeguarding community.

This recent session with Premier League clubs looked at a number of different topics, including:

• an overview of the work that DBS does, alongside a general update
• the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and DBS’ response to this, including the introduction of 24-hour emergency Barred List(s) checks and other temporary measures
• a look at the new filtering rules that were introduced in November 2020

The Premier League clubs involved in this session were also encouraged to ask questions about the work that we do at DBS to maximise understanding, and were invited to remain in contact with DBS as we continue to build effective relationships, and look at how we can work together with safer recruitment in mind.

The session also provided the Partnership and Engagement team with the platform to introduce our new DBS regional teams and Outreach Officers to the Premier League. The focus of this new regional outreach service is to work collaboratively with safeguarding organisations and organisations that are recruiting.

Head of Partnership and Engagement at DBS, Helen Chandler, said:

We have been delighted to have the opportunity to develop our relationship with the Premier League and support them, and their clubs, by increasing awareness and understanding of the role that DBS plays in making recruitment safer. We are learning from them what works well for their clubs, and adjusting our approach to take advantage of communication technology, and the added support that our new regional outreach officers can give to organisations and communities at a local level, at the time that it is needed.

As detailed in the DBS 2020-25 Strategy, keeping people informed and increasing public understanding of the work we do at DBS is one of DBS’ strategic objectives, and this type of work is a key part of meeting these objectives over the next five years.

For more information about this piece of work, or the work of the Partnership and Engagement team, please contact: Danielle Oakford, Safeguarding Engagement Manager.

DBS is looking forward to continuing this work in collaboration with the Premier League.