Linton-on-Ouse: Axed RAF base asylum plan priced at more than £30m

The plans for an asylum centre in North Yorkshire were opposed by villagers and Hambleton District Council

A proposal to house asylum seekers on a former North Yorkshire RAF base would have cost taxpayers more than £32m, documents obtained by BBC News reveal.

The Home Office plan to house up to 1,500 asylum seekers at Linton-on-Ouse was scrapped in August.

Serco, the company which won the contract to run the axed centre, would usually be entitled to compensation.

Both Serco and the Home Office declined to comment on whether any compensation had been paid.

In April, plans were announced to turn the site of the former RAF base into an asylum centre.

The proposals were met with widespread opposition from local residents, who claimed their rural village was not a suitable location to house vulnerable people.

A copy of the confidential public tender obtained by BBC News revealed Serco would have been paid £32.8m to house asylum applicants at the site as part of a two-year contract.

It is understood the deal was signed in May.

Serco had spent money on preparing the site to receive asylum seekers before the contract was cancelled last month.

At the time, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he had withdrawn the offer of the base to the Home Office.

"I have obligations to do something else with that site, and you know there are other sites we made available to the Home Office if they wish to take it up," he said.

The Home Office previously said the centre at the former RAF station would be as self-sufficient as possible

John Grayson, a specialist in asylum contracts, said was likely Serco would have still received a significant amount of taxpayers' money in the form of compensation from the government.

"All public sector contracts have got clauses in them about what will happen, when and if they are cancelled by public authorities.

"I am absolutely certain that Serco will have received substantial compensation for the cancellation of the contract," added Mr Grayson, who works for the South Yorkshire Migration Asylum Action Group.

A spokesperson for the Home Office told the BBC that they would not comment on commercial matters but were "steadfastly committed to tackling illegal migration."

They added: "The government will continue to identify appropriate sites for Greek-style asylum reception centres which will play a key role in reducing the number of asylum seekers in hotels which cost the taxpayer more than £5m each day."

See more on this story on Politics North (Yorkshire and Lincolnshire) on BBC One on Sunday 2 October at 14:50 BST or watch via BBC iPlayer here.