Housing illegal migrants at Bibby Stockholm is £20 per night per person cheaper than hotels, Home Office says

Housing illegal migrants on ships is £20 per night per person cheaper than in hotels, the Home Office insisted yesterday.

A value for money claimed a night in the Bibby Stockholm cost £120, while a hotel cost £140.

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Home office Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft said the total savings, including start-up costs, would be £800,000 over the life of the ship's 18-month contract.

This despite the start-up costs for the Bibby Stockholm in total £22 million.

When pressed, the Home Office would not go into detail about its calculations.

Ministers bought the Bibby Stockholm, moored at Portland, Dorset, to reduce the £8m-a-day hotel cost to taxpayers.

Meanwhile, Minister of the Interior James Slim said deportations under the UK deal with Rwanda could be “quite low” depending on other factors.

But he declined to predict how many people were likely to go.

It came as migrants were pulled from the sea in an attempt to make it dangerous Channel crossed yesterday.

Lifeboats from DoverDungeness and Hastings tried to rescue people on small boats.

The coastguard confirmed that “a number of incidents” had occurred off the coast Knows coast.

More than a thousand migrants have arrived in Britain after crossing the Channel since the start of the year, Home Office figures show.