A controversial barracks is unfit to house asylum seekers on a long term basis, an inspection has found.

The inspection into the camp at Napier Barracks in Folkestone unearthed severe problems with social distancing and Covid safety.

Carried out by the NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in January, the visit occurred less than two weeks before a major disturbance erupted over conditions at the site.

The Home Office has continued to defend the use of the military barracks to house asylum seekers, despite increasing pressure and calls to shut it down.

There have been numerous reports from within the camp of unsanitary conditions that made social distancing impossible.

The document from the CCG's visit on January 20, which was shared by Shadow Immigration Minister Holly Lynch, confirmed that as of the time of the visit a total of 137 people in the barracks had confirmed cases of the virus.

This included 128 asylum seekers and nine staff members; alarmingly, inspectors found that there was at least one infected resident for each block in the barracks, despite Public Health England's guidance advising positive and negative cases to be separated.

One reason for this was stated as the fact that at the time of the inspection there were no empty bed spaces to allow for this separation, also known as cohorting.

There were also more than 100 negative cases, with 51 still outstanding and 92 residents who refused to take the test for "a variety of reasons", reportedly including not believing Covid existed, or not being worried about it.

In the background to the case, the report states that the barracks "were not built to house people on a long-term basis, they were built to facilitate the military while on exercise for short periods of time". Asylum seekers were first moved into the barracks in September, more than six months ago.

Home Secretary Priti Patel had previously stated on numerous occasions, most recently in a letter to nearby residents, that the accommodation was "good enough for army personnel" but has not addressed the length of time large military groups usually stay at the barracks.

The report also states that there are a number of clinically vulnerable people at the camp, including men aged up to 60, as well as a range of clinical conditions including diabetes, leukaemia and tuberculosis.

"The Home Secretary has serious questions to answer"

Inspectors visited one dormitory – which was identical to the others – and found that while it was cleaned twice a day, and had dividers between each bed space, there were "too many people housed in each block to allow adequate social distancing and to prevent the risk of spread of infection".

The report made a number of recommendations, including removing service users who were clinically vulnerable, reduce numbers on the site and creating individual sleeping acommodations, among others.

A number of residents have since been moved into alternative accommodation, but it is not clear whether or not more asylum seekers will be moved into the site in the near future.

Ms Lynch, who obtained the report through a Freedom of Information request, said the report contained "devastating revelations".

"The Home Secretary has serious questions to answer on this and her answers to the Home Affairs Committee last week", she said.

A separate inspection into the barracks from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) was carried out last month. The results of this inspection have not yet been published.

A Home Office spokesman said: “The UK Government has a statutory duty to care for destitute asylum seekers, and they are provided with safe, warm, secure accommodation – all paid for by the British taxpayer.

“Despite our best efforts a number of those accommodated at Napier tested positive for coronavirus earlier this year.

"We worked with Kent and Medway CCG and our provider to address the points raised in the report from their visit, and also worked closely with Public Health England to follow all medical advice, including moving people from the site so they could self-isolate.

“There is currently no one accommodated at Napier who is Covid positive and we hope, shortly, that the outbreak will be declared over.”

Read more: All the latest news from Folkestone