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Date submitted

28 July 2026

Submitted by

Interested party

The first point I want to make is that expansion to house 600 migrants in this IRC rests on a case that we don't have enough places already; I can see plenty of evidence to show we need fewer not more IRC places and none that there is an immediate need for more detention places. Home office Data shows that around a quarter of IRC beds are unoccupied; and the same data source, from March 2026, shows that over half the people locked into the 'immigration detention estate' should not have been there in the first place. The urgent need which exists is for better decision making earlier on in the process, not for IRC places. Evidence shows that less than half the people in detention are deported. Secondly, turning to the site, Gosport has a proud naval history and a rich sea front which if develoed properly would attract tourism to the area and be a perfect place for veteran housing and for museum space. To use it for warehousing migrants in prison circumstances will do nothing to enhance the seafront area, will pressurise the infrastructure of the area including the pressure on transport and the roads, will inevitably lead to light pollution over the surrounding area and, using evidence from the existing IRCs, will also inevitably lead to incidents of self harm, attempted suicide, hunger strikes which will put pressure on the areas emergency services and police. Immigration Detention is not the answer. It creates human misery, costs taxpayers vast sums which go straight into the pockets of the private companies who build and run these places, and ultimately wil not achieve the aim of deporting more people legitimately. That, as the UNHCR have said, is better achieved - humanely and proportionately - by community alternative routes. Until the infamous Rwanda scheme, the direction of the government was to detain fewer people, not more; let us return to that aspiration. And yes I would like to attend a hearing.