Health Secretary defends motion over Legionella-hit asylum seeker barge
M
inisters took “very quick action” to maneuver asylum seekers from the Bibby Stockholm barge after traces of Legionella micro organism had been discovered, the Health Secretary stated, amid a blame sport concerning the response to the state of affairs.
Steve Barclay stated Home Office ministers weren’t advised concerning the state of affairs till the night time of August 10, regardless of claims a neighborhood council advised the contractors working the vessel about take a look at outcomes on August 7 – the day migrants boarded the barge.
The discovery finally led to the elimination on August 11 of all 39 individuals who had boarded the floating lodging docked in Portland, Dorset.
Tory-run Dorset Council stated it knowledgeable the “responsible organisations”, barge operators CTM and Landry & Kling, concerning the preliminary take a look at outcomes on Monday August 7 – the identical day it acquired them.
A Home Office official was then advised concerning the discovery on August 8, the council stated.
Mr Barclay insisted ministers solely grew to become conscious of the problem on August 10 however didn’t deny the chance Home Office officers could have been conscious earlier.
“As soon as ministers were notified on Thursday night, there were some concerns with that, they took instant action,” the Health Secretary advised Sky News.
He added: “It may be the council notified the Home Office, that is an issue for those in the Home Office to respond to, obviously this is a Home Office lead.
“My understanding from colleagues in the Home Office is it was notified to Home Office ministers on Thursday and they then took very quick action as a result.”
Legionella was detected in a pattern analysed by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on behalf of Dorset’s environmental well being workforce.
UKHSA chief Dame Jenny Harries stated the preliminary findings didn’t require a response by her company because it might be that there have been environmental elements which didn’t imply there was a public well being danger.
But she stated the native well being safety workforce was alerted on the night time of August 9 and she or he was knowledgeable very first thing on August 10 when the UKHSA “jumped in immediately”.
The migrants moved on to Bibby Stockholm on August 7, the beginning of the Government’s “small boats week” coverage blitz geared toward displaying they had been tackling the issues of migrants crossing the English Channel and the backlog within the asylum system.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether or not asylum seekers ought to have been allowed to board earlier than the take a look at outcomes got here again, Dame Jenny stated “we would always, in public health terms, want places as safe as possible”.
She stated the Home Office acted to take away the asylum seekers from the vessel as a precaution earlier than a suggestion to take action.
Dorset Council defended its dealing with of the state of affairs.
A spokesman stated: “To be clear, it was not Dorset Council’s responsibility to inform the Home Office – that responsibility sat with CTM and Landry & King, the companies contracted by the Home Office to operate the barge.”
Meanwhile, there have been additional indicators of exercise within the English Channel on Monday following giant numbers of migrants making the crossing in current days.
More than 1,600 individuals had been detected making the journey from France throughout Thursday to Saturday final week in accordance with provisional Home Office figures.
At least six individuals died and dozens had been rescued after a ship received into issue off the coast of Sangatte, northern France, on Saturday.