PCC says he will keep pushing government for funding to police Bicester asylum centre
Matthew Barber is concerned about the impact of the proposed site on police resources
Thames Valley's Police and Crime Commissioner says he will continue pressing the Home Office for more funding to police a proposed asylum accommodation centre near Bicester.
Matthew Barber has written to the Home Secretary again, urging the government to reconsider plans to use the former MOD Bicester site over concerns about community safety and the impact on police resources.
He has previously estimated that policing the site could cost nearly £2 million a year, including additional neighbourhood officers and managing potential protests.
But Mr Barber said he is still waiting for a response to an earlier letter about funding, sent to the Minister for Border Security and Asylum in September.
"I will be relentless on this one and I still will keep pressing the Home Office for some support," he said.
"I'm confident that regardless, Thames Valley Police will rise to the challenge. I have great confidence in the force to do that.
"But we are coming up setting our budgets and it will simply mean that those other decisions we have to make around our budgets will be that extra bit tighter if we don't get the additional resource from the Home Office."
Concerns over increased policing demand
Mr Barber believes the proposed accommodation could lead to an increase in crime and says more officers would be needed in the surrounding area.
He told us his concerns are based partly on previous experiences of policing asylum hotels across the Thames Valley.
"What we've seen in the past where we've had asylum hotels in Thames Valley is, if nothing else, they've generated crime within that hotel environment," he said.
He also believes an increase in the local population would lead to greater demand on police resources.
Mr Barber wants Thames Valley Police to increase its neighbourhood policing presence around Bicester in preparation, but says doing so without extra government funding could affect services elsewhere.
"We don't have a cupboard with a load of spare police officers in that we can just wheel out when we need them.
"So if we're putting more resource into one area, we need to be able to backfill it somewhere else."
What the Home Office says
A Home Office spokesperson said: "The government is working on a fairer distribution of asylum accommodation across the country, with over £1 billion saved in costs since the election.
"This includes closing all asylum hotels and moving to alternative accommodation, including former military sites. These are designed to be self-contained, with 24/7 security and CCTV, to minimise the impact on the local community.
"While no final decision has yet been taken on the future use of MOD Bicester, if the site proceeds, we will work with local authorities and police forces to maintain the safety and security of those in the surrounding area."
The department also says there is no evidence of rising crime around existing large asylum accommodation sites, such as Wethersfield in Essex.
PCC response to security assurances
Responding to the Home Office's assurances about security at the proposed centre, Mr Barber said the measures would not remove the need for additional police resources.
"That sounds very much like a bare minimum that we would expect because we know that people who are housed on the site are not required to stay within that secure environment all the time," he said.
"If a crime is committed within the centre, it's going to be Thames Valley Police that need to investigate that crime.
"The CCTV might be there, but it's going to be Thames Valley Police officers that have to trawl through the CCTV and make an arrest and secure a prosecution."
He says his priority is ensuring police have enough resources to prevent crime and protect everyone in the area, including local residents, staff and people living at the proposed centre.