Priti Patel has criticised the Home Office for its use of an RAF base to house migrants, saying their "plans were flawed".
This came after 70 asylum seekers were transferred from the Home Office’s largest mass accommodation site to hotels after a number of safety concerns were raised.
The MP for Witham in Essex said she had warned the Home Office that the site was unsuitable, adding that it "should have been delivering and implementing" the reforms she introduced as home secretary.
Hitting out at the developments, Patel told GB News: "These latest issues once again highlight why the Home Office was wrong to use the Wethersfield site for a large-scale asylum accommodation centre.
Priti Patel has criticised the Home Office for its use of an RAF base to house migrants, saying their "plans were flawed"
PA
"At the time I warned the then Ministers this site was unsuitable and their plans were flawed.
"Since then we've seen health outbreaks, damage to property and costs spiralling out of control while the Home Office has failed to deliver the project as original announced.
"Instead of pursuing Wethersfield, the Home Office should have been delivering and implementing the reforms I introduced to enable quicker processing of asylum applications, after removals and detained facilities."
The Wethersfield airfield site in Essex was set to be used to house asylum seekers for a three-year period after planning permission was granted last month.
But a special development order (SDO) found issues with a contamination risk from gases, radiological contamination and unexploded ordnance, as well as with suitable storage for fuel and other hazardous substances and satisfactory arrangements for drinking water.
A report from the National Audit Office suggested that huge accommodation sites were more expensive than hotels.
The Home Secretary has been told to launch "a programme of intrusive ground investigations to assess contamination" at Wethersfield.
The site was set to open this month but it has reportedly been delayed until June.
Graham Butland, the leader of Braintree district council, said they wrote to the Home Office "requesting urgent copies of all the relevant technical documents and plans under the SDO to support our duty in safeguarding the interests of the local community and those living or working on site".
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He added that the council was still waiting for a response from the Home Office.
Similar safety concerns were raised at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire which was forced to scale back its numbers from 2,000 to 800 due to contamination and unexploded ordnance risks.
The Home Office said in a statement: "We have always been clear that the use of asylum hotels is unacceptable, which is why we moved asylum seekers to former military sites which we ensure are safe to accommodate asylum seekers prior to use."
