The Home Office is planning to spend £306m on new migrant detention centres to house 1,000 asylum seekers.
Officials are seeking contractors to run three immigration removal centres (IRCs) amid the “unprecedented rise of small boat crossings”.
A contract published by the Home Office states: “Due to the unprecedented rise of small boat crossings in recent years, demand on the IRC estate has increased and there is a requirement for the expansion of its capacity.
“This notice covers the procurement of operational services for an additional circa 1,000 detention spaces across three sites. Alternative accommodation solutions are also being explored and, if approved, may lead to further demand for operational services.”
The potential locations of the new IRCs is not known.
Two of the contracts are for centres to hold 360 channel migrants each at a cost of £108m, while a third would house 300 and cost £90m, the Daily Mail reported.
A Home Office spokesman said: “We are committed to the removal of foreign criminals and those with no right to be in the UK.
“Immigration removal centres play a vital role in controlling our borders and we have been finding further solutions to scale up our detention capacity.”
Up to 10 unused student accommodation and former office blocks are also reportedly under consideration, averaging about 500 places per site, as the government scrambles to get migrants out of hotels.
The planned IRCs emerged just days after Rishi Sunak’s plans to house asylum seekers were plunged into chaos after the forced evacuation of the Bibby Stockholm barge.
Despite the chaos, Mr Sunak and home secretary Suella Braverman are pushing on with plans to house migrants on barges as well as the new IRCs.
All 39 people on the Bibby Stockholm were taken off due to Legionella bacteria.
The planned IRCs are part of Mr Sunak’s key pledge to “stop the boats” crossing the English channel. As part of his plans, the government has passed laws allowing migrants who arrive on small boats to be “detained and swiftly returned” to their home country or other countries such as Rwanda.
But ongoing small boat crossings mean the UK needs to increase the capacity of its detention centres.
Figures show 16,790 migrants have arrived in small boats since January 1, with that number expected to increase amid a spell of good weather on England’s south coast.
