Napier Barracks

Public Health England did not have the information requested.

Dear Public Health England,

On Monday February 8th, the Home Office minister Chris Philip MP was asked about the suitability of Napier Barracks in Folkestone to house asylum seekers during the Coronavirus pandemic. He told the House of Commons:

"We've been consulting with Public Health England throughout this episode. The use of such accommodation is appropriate and suitable"

"Barrack-type accommodation not only is suitable but it's a great deal cheaper than hotels".

Under the Freedom of Information Act, please could you supply the advice you have provided to the Home Office about the suitability of barrack-type accommodation to house asylum seekers during the pandemic?

Yours faithfully,

Callum May

FOI, Public Health England

CLASSIFIED

Dear Callum May,

We acknowledge receipt of your email and request for information, which will be treated as a request for information under statutory access legislation.

Please note that requests under the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) will receive a response within 20 working days from the day following the date of receipt of your request.

If the request is for your personal data, your request has been handled as a data subject access request (SAR) under Article 15 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), then we will respond within one month of the receipt of the request.

Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for providing guidance and advice to government and front-line services for all aspects of public health. It is a designated Category 1 responder organisation under the Civil Contingency Act and this specifically includes the COVID-19 response, providing clinical expertise and wider public health advice and guidance across national and local government, the NHS and third sector. As such, you may experience delays when making statutory information access requests during the pandemic.

We will aim to address all requests promptly and within the required response timeframes. However when we are unable to meet the response timeframe we will keep requesters updated on a revised expected timescale for a response to their request. The Information Commissioner recognises this position in its recent guidance, see link: https://ico.org.uk/global/data-protectio...

Public Accountability Unit
Public Health England
[PHE request email]
Tel: 020 8327 6920
www.gov.uk/phe Follow us on Twitter @PHE UK

show quoted sections

FOI, Public Health England

1 Attachment

  • Attachment

    2744 FOI The suitability of barrack type accommodation to asylum seekers during pandemic.pdf

    87K Download View as HTML

OFFICIAL
Dear Callum May,

Please find attached Public Health England's response to your request.

FOI Team
Public Accountability Unit
Public Health England
[PHE request email]
Tel: 020 8327 6920
www.gov.uk/phe Follow us on Twitter @PHE uk

show quoted sections