Plans to house asylum seekers in Inverness
Joint statement from Convenor Bill Lobban, Leader Raymond Bremner, and Opposition Leader Alasdair Christie
The Highland Council has been notified by the UK Government that it intends to use Cameron Barracks in Inverness to place circa 300 asylum seekers on a phased basis. Highland Council understands this property will be used as transitional accommodation from early December 2025 for up to 12 months. For clarification, Cameron Barracks is not owned by Highland Council nor any of its local public sector partners.
The first written confirmation, which was used as the basis of a briefing for key partners by Home Office officials, was received by the Council yesterday, 27 October, and was confidential.
The Home Office is the lead agency for resettlement, and decisions regarding the use of Cameron Barracks are made by the MOD and Home Office alone. The UK Government has indicated that the Council has no direct role in supporting the asylum seekers after their arrival. The Leader of The Highland Council wrote to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Shabana Mahmood last week to request confirmation and additional information. To date we have not received a response. We await more details on how Inverness was selected over other available locations and how community cohesion will be maintained given the large number of asylum seekers planned relative to the local population. We have repeatedly sought written confirmation from the Home Office as to their plans.
The UK Government have informed us that their accommodation will be self-contained, with all necessary services provided on site. The asylum seekers are 'non-detained', meaning they will be free to leave their site should they wish.
Their intention is to use the barracks for short-term accommodation before people are moved to dispersed housing around the UK to await the outcome of their asylum applications. The Home Office has informed us that asylum applications will not be processed in Inverness, which will create more disruption.
Our main concern is the impact this proposal will have on community cohesion given the scale of the proposals as they currently stand. Inverness is a relatively small community but the potential impact locally and across the wider Highlands appears not to have been taken into consideration by the UK Government.
For the above reasons a Special Meeting of The Highland Council will be held on Thursday 6 November after the Communities and Place Committee for Members to discuss the UK Government plans to place asylum seekers in Inverness.