Tories hit out at Bicester asylum centre decision

The Tories have slammed the government over its decision to granting planning permission for a 750-place asylum accommodation centre at Bicester.

Shadow Home Secretary Oliver Letwin said that the move would be “greeted with dismay by local residents”.

He added: “Even within the government's present misconceived asylum strategy, such large centres are most unlikely to provide an effective solution.

“They are far too big, and should not be placed in rural areas, which do not have the infrastructure to support them.

Mr Letwin said that there should be more, smaller, “one-stop-shops” that aim at processing applications within six weeks rather than six months.

"The time has come to look again at the entire asylum system and replace it with a system of rational quotas for refugees and offshore processing of claims not within the quota," he said.

Home Office Minister Beverley Hughes welcomed the decision as the Bicester centre would be an “important part of the government's work to deliver our radical asylum reforms”.

"I realise members of the local community have concerns about the centre, although I do not accept that an accommodation centre will be a detriment to the local area,” she said. “We will continue to work with the community to address the issues raised in the planning inquiry. I hope that in due course local people will want to become involved in the operation of the centre, and have a positive relationship with its staff and occupants.”

The Home Office is waiting for a planning decision on the proposed site at Newton and will decide shortly on whether to apply for planning approval for a site at HMS Daedalus in Gosport.

(gmcg)