Home Office sued over migrant sites' contract bid

The Home Office has denied there was a "conflict of interest" when it awarded a £462.6m deal to manage sites used to process migrants arriving in the UK on small boats.

Mitie Care and Custody, a subsidiary of Mitie Group, are suing the department after the contract for two Kent sites, Western Jet Foil in Dover and the Manston processing centre, went to MTC Definitive.

High Court documents claimed the Home Office failed to "prevent, identify and remedy conflicts of interest" because MTC's head of development, Dave Butler, was previously deputy director of Manston.

A defence filed by the Home Office said the claim was "baseless" and without merit, with no conflict of interest.

Mitie is asking the High Court to "set aside" the decision and award the contract to Mitie, or rerun the tendering process, or order the government to pay damages.

The government's "find a tender" website said the six-year contract, worth £521.3m before VAT, was advertised in October 2024 and split into two lots.

The first, worth £462.6m, included catering, transport and security at the sites, and the second, worth £58.7m, concerned healthcare.

In a defence filed last month, Azeem Suterwalla KC, for the Home Office, said Butler "had access to sensitive information" while working at Manston, but was not involved in decisions concerning the procurement strategy.

He said when Butler left Manston, he was subject to a 12-month restriction on involvement in commercial activity related to his role at the site.

This was "to avoid any real or perceived improper advantage to an organisation by employing someone who has had access to government policy or commercially valuable or sensitive information".

Suterwalla said: "There was no 'serious risk' of a conflict of interest."

Ewan West KC, for Mitie, said the company submitted its offer for the £462.6m lot last September and heard in January it had been unsuccessful.

Mitie wrote to the department with "a number of concerns", which West said were not addressed.

He said the Home Office "made manifest errors", including failing to provide "appropriate and sufficient reasons to justify" awarding the contract to MTC.

He claimed the MTC bid was "not compliant" with rules, as it did not meet minimum staffing requirements.

Suterwalla said the Home Office had now provided reasons for its decision and MTC's bid met minimum staffing requirements.

He said: "It is denied that Mitie is entitled to any of the remedies sought."

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