Council to hire security guards near asylum base

Security guards will be employed to "provide reassurance to residents" in areas where asylum seekers frequently visit, a council has said.

MDP Wethersfield, near Halstead in north Essex, has been used to house single male migrants since 2023 and the government is looking to increase the number of people accommodated there from about 800 to 1,220.

Essex County Council said it planned to introduce security personnel to Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford, where some of the migrants travel to by bus.

The Reform UK-led administration said the move would deter anti-social behaviour, although it did not provide examples of incidents involving asylum seekers in these areas.

Peter Harris, the council leader, said: "This is a positive and proportionate response to the concerns residents have been raising for many months now regarding the daily bussing of asylum seekers from Wethersfield to Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford."

The government provides transport "where necessary" so asylum seekers can access services in the community.

Harris pointed out that 17 minibuses were operated out of Wethersfield to these locations each day.

The BBC has attempted to contact the Home Office for a response.

David King, a senior Lib Dem county councillor, said it was a "well-intentioned" idea that could only work if the security officers integrated with already established arrangements.

"They won't know the place, they won't know the people, they won't be connected up," he said.

"They will have no authority – no more than you or I – on the streets of our or any other city or town."

King said the money could also be spent on educating asylum seekers on British cultures and values.

The council said the initiative, named Operation Vanguard, would act as a "visible presence to reassure residents and deter and prevent any anti-social behaviour".

It would run as a three-month trial, but a contract has not yet been awarded.

The local authority said funding would come from drawing down £150,000 from the "community innovation and improvement fund".

Councillors critical of the idea have until Thursday to "call in" the decision, meaning the move would first be debated at a meeting.

The BBC has tried to reach opposition members from Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

The government does not record criminal offences by immigration status, but according to analysis by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, foreign nationals in England and Wales are convicted at roughly the same rate as British nationals.

Speaking to the BBC this month, Jacqui Braithwaite, landlady of the Finchingfield Lion near Wethersfield, said the asylum seekers seen locally were "respectful".

"The migrants a mile-and-a-half away make absolutely no difference to our lives," she said.

Andrew Sinclair, the BBC's East of England political editor, said critics would likely "accuse Reform of stoking community tensions".

"The council believes, quite rightly, that some people living near the base and the three main destinations for the Wetherfield buses have concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour," said Sinclair.

"But what is not clear is how necessary this is."

He added: “Opposition parties have a week to ’call in‘ this proposal, which will force the council to justify the policy and produce evidence for its decision. This will probably happen.

“As for the government, it is unlikely to move from its policy of closing down asylum hotels and putting more people in former military bases. It argues that the stays will be temporary and a detterent to those who want to come illegally to the UK. It also hopes the bases will close in a few years time when it get on top of the aylum problem.

“With Parliament returning from the summer break and the party conference season about to get under way, this move ensures that Wethersfield and immigration are talked about a lot in the weeks to come. And that's probably what Reform wanted.”

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