Eradicating empty migrant dinghies from the Channel prices taxpayers £2m a yr

The Home Office is paying £2 million a yr on non-public boats despatched to sea to choose up empty migrant dinghies, a leaked doc has revealed.

The cash from taxpaters permits the vessels to move out on the English Channel and acquire deserted small boats after migrants have been safely moved onto a Border Force or RNLI vessel.

MCS Taku and MCS Blue Norther are two of the boats primarily based in Dover which the Home Office deploys.

A leaked doc reveals the Home Office paid £5,777 each three months to Maritime Craft Services, a enterprise primarily based within the west of Scotland, for utilizing their two vessels to get better migrant boats, The Times revealed.

Some Kent-based constitution companies have questioned why the Government didn’t contact native boat corporations, who may have quoted cheaper costs.

Border Force boats beforehand towed the empty migrant dinghies earlier than the contract was signed this yr with Maritime Craft Services.

It is known the Border Force needed to pay Dover Marine £200 per dinghy it introduced into the harbour because it wanted an onshore crane to maneuver the dinghies into the harbour.

The two crafts are usually utilized by the authorities to assist dredging, marine building initiatives and offshore windfarms and will not be required to pay £200 as a result of they’ve cranes on deck.

A fisherman instructed The Times: “This is a total waste of money and adds unnecessary pollution and traffic to the Channel. 

“Why can’t they tow the dinghies behind them like they used to? Or they may save the taxpayers a whole lot of hundreds of kilos by paying Kent-based vessels to choose up the empty dinghies as an alternative, reasonably than chartering them from Scotland. I’d do it for £200,000 all-in.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “All Home Office business contracts are designed to make sure one of the best worth for taxpayers.”

France additionally pays to deploy non-public vessels to the Channel, to assist them discover small boats and escort the dinghies in direction of British waters the place the dinghy is then handed to the RNLI or Border Force. Once emptied, the empty dinghy might be taken again by Britain to the harbour utilizing one of many contracted vessels.