Inexperienced temporary workers are plugging gaps in security at an ex-RAF base housing asylum seekers where reports of assaults and violent threats have been made, The i Paper has been told.
A union representing security guards at the former RAF Wethersfield site – which now houses up to 1,200 male migrants who arrived in the UK on small boats – claimed agency staff have been brought in after last month’s protest, which saw at least three guards sacked in a trade dispute with the site’s managers, Clearsprings Ready Homes.
Daniel Garnham, general secretary of the Security Industry Federation (SIF), said the temporary staff had little or no experience of the Wethersfield site.
Security contractors said they had been spat on, assaulted and threatened by residents at the former military base, which has been dogged by controversy.
One guard who was dismissed described conditions for staff and residents as “disgusting”, with faeces scrawled across toilet floors and mildew everywhere.
There have been suicide attempts and deliberate self-harm by traumatised residents, according to doctors.
The SIF said 22 of around 30 Wethersfield security contractors did not show for a shift last month after being told to move to full-time contracts with Clearsprings Ready Homes, which manages services at the base for the Home Office.
Guards, who had been self-employed, claimed they would be paid less and have to carry out extra tasks not associated with site security as part of the new PAYE terms.
Mr Garnham said agency staff have now been hired to work while vetting checks are carried out on those who are taking up the new contracts.
Temporary accommodation units housing migrants at MDP Wethersfield Ministry of Defence facility (Photo: Carl Court/Getty)“Unfortunately, Clearsprings did not engage with us and with no real response from the Government, they have been allowed to employ sub-standard workers on the cheap,” he told The i Paper.
“The main concern is the continuity of health, safety, and security of, firstly, the residents there, the asylum seekers.
“They’re only going to be looked after properly with properly trained and experienced security workers, a lot of them veterans, who can handle the situations there.”
Mr Garnham said six Wethersfield security guards SIF represents had been accepted for the full-time contracts, with dozens more currently out of work while a two-week vetting procedure is carried out.
Wethersfield is the largest military base being used as accommodation for asylum seekers, with migrants housed there since 2023.
Last month, the Government confirmed two more Ministry of Defence (MoD) sites will now be used in a bid to slash asylum hotel costs.
Crowborough Training Camp in East Sussex and Cameron Barracks in Inverness were offered to the Home Office for 12 months to house 900 asylum seekers, with Mr Garnham questioning how those sites would now be staffed.
“Clearsprings is not a security company. They have got no prior experience in supplying security,” he said.
“If that’s the model they’re doing here at Braintree [Wethersfield], and they’re going to replicate that, then that’s going to put a lot of residents at risk, in and around the other locations.”
A job advert for the £35,000 a year role says guards must assist with safeguarding referrals and protective measures for vulnerable individuals.
One worker who was part of last month’s Wethersfield walkout described the citation at the Essex bases as “a mess”.
“And this is the template they want to use for Crowborough and Inverness,” they said.
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“You’ve got a good group of between 30 and 40 people who are not working, not able to pay the bills.
“One already had to miss out on a mortgage payment this month. People are worried, Christmas is coming up. It’s a really dire situation.”
Clearsprings and the Home Office were contacted for comment.
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