Gosport immigration centre will bring about 200 jobs, MP says

The centre could house 600 male immigrants waiting to be removed from the UK

An MP believes about 200 new jobs could be created after more details emerged of plans to reopen an immigration removal centre (IRC).

Dame Caroline Dinenage said she received a letter from the government about Haslar IRC in Gosport coming back into service.

The Home Office has stated the centre, which closed in 2016, could hold 600 male immigrants from next year.

Dame Caroline said the jobs would be a "boost for the area".

Haslar IRC is the second facility the government is planning to reopen as part of its goal of "tackling illegal immigration".

Dame Caroline, MP for Gosport, told the BBC the centre was in a "bit of a sorry state" and would be the subject of a refurbishment programme, although she could not supply costs.

Dame Caroline said residents had become used to the site being used as a prison and immigration centre

The Home Office said the new IRC would be a "mixture of refurbished and new-build accommodation" with recreational, educational and healthcare facilities including a cultural kitchen and barbers.

Dame Caroline said the former IRC had been a prison and an immigration centre for 50 years so residents were "used to it".

"It's a secure site for foreign nationals waiting to be deported, so it has a specific purpose. It's not like Manston in Kent, it's not a processing centre, it's a totally different proposition."

The government has been criticised for recent overcrowding at the immigration centre at Manston.

But Dame Caroline said that problem was "now under control".

In June, plans were announced to reopen Campsfield House in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, which shut in 2018 after years of problems, including riots, escapes and complaints about conditions.

Both facilities could reopen at the end of 2023 and house 1,000 men between the two locations.