Council backs exploring asylum housing referendum

A council has backed a motion to explore holding an advisory referendum over housing asylum seekers in the area at the next elections on 6 May 2027.

At a full Suffolk County Council meeting on Thursday, out of 70 councillors, 39 voted in favour of the proposal, with 13 voting against and 13 abstentions.

Philip Faircloth-Mutton, a Reform UK councillor and deputy leader of the authority, put forward the motion as he said communities should have a say over Home Office plans to convert RAF Barnham into accommodation for asylum seekers.

Opposition councillors said a referendum could cost up to £2m to hold, would not be legally binding and would come too late to change policy if it was run in May.

The proposed referendum was debated by councillors for 90 minutes and required an extension as motions normally have a 30-minute time limit.

According to council papers, the motion was brought forward "due to deep and widespread concerns" from the local community over Home Office plans to convert RAF Barnham, near Thetford, into housing for migrants for a minimum of 10 years.

In June three Ministry of Defence (MoD) sites - in Bicester, Oxfordshire, Barnham, Suffolk, and Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire - were named as potential areas to house asylum seekers as the government vowed to move away from hotel-based accommodation.

It is understood that RAF Barnham could house about 1,250 male asylum seekers.

Faircloth-Mutton told the meeting he had been asked why the council should spend money on a referendum when there was a budget deficit, adding: "I ask is democracy worth the cost and I believe it is."

He continued: "We must let communities have their say and Reform are standing up for Suffolk residents today."

Tristan Gale, the Reform cabinet member for planning, devolution and the fire service, seconded the motion, adding that residents in Barnham could not just move away if they were unhappy.

"They have houses to sell and who is going to buy a house with a camp full of asylum seekers on the doorstep," he said.

When responding to the criticism of the cost of holding a referendum, Gale said: "I hear people say a referendum is a waste of money, you tell that to Barnham residents who can't sell their houses or are worried sick that their children will no longer be safe to play in their village."

The debate was heated and provoked strong views from both sides of the chamber.

All opposition councillors brought up the cost of any referendum which they said could range from £250,000 to £2m.

Andrew Stringer, the leader of the Green Party, called the motion "divisive", adding that if the Reform administration felt this problem was so urgent why were they holding a referendum next May and not sooner.

"If this is that urgent then you need to get down to Parliament and get those MPs around the table and sort this out please. This is about political theatre and political advantage next May," he said.

All district and borough councils are due to have elections on 6 May 2027.

Richard Rout, the leader of the Conservative group, agreed on the lack of timeliness of a May referendum.

He added: "It's impossible to make a sound judgement today so I urge the administration to bring this back to full council with questions on cost, legality and whether Barnham parish support this."

Martin Cook, the leader of the Labour group, highlighted that the poll would not hold any legal power, adding: "Nothing in law gives this any standing."

He explained that a council could only hold a referendum that had legal power if it concerned its own services and housing asylum seekers was the responsibility of the Home Office.

Inga Lockington, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said: "These announcements do not fix the fundamental issue of slow application processing time. Get on with it, government, and that's what this motion should have been about, and I think we could all have supported that."

Prime Minister Andy Burnham was asked about recent protests outside RAF Barnham during an interview with the BBC last month.

He said he understood the concerns of local people, but added: "There is a challenge in the country in relation to asylum accommodation, and the big call was that we can't carry on using hotels because of the cost of hotel accommodation.

"What I can say to people is I will always be prepared to listen - and indeed I have been talking about these issues with the home secretary, to make sure that whatever we do does respond to local concerns."

When asked if he would take action as well as just listening, he said: "You don't just say something and then do nothing. Where there are changes which we can make, I'm always open to making those changes."

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