Thousands of pounds are being spent on hiring staff to teach ballooncraft, cake decorating and floristry to migrants awaiting deportation.
A hairdressing tutor, hospitality and floristry tutor, painting and decorating tutor and gym manager are among the 32 jobs currently available at Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre – a male-only facility.
Salaries for the full-time roles are over £30k a year – with the gym manager role being advertised for £38,873.66 per annum.
The combined yearly spend of all the jobs has been considered an insult to tax payers.
Shadow Justice Secretary and Tory MP Robert Jenrick told The Sun: ‘The Government has lost the plot. They’re so addicted to providing freebies that they’re even handing them out to foreign criminals when they’re about to be chucked out the county. It’s insane.
‘These jobs should be withdrawn immediately and replaced by security officers that can increase deportations.’
The roles first appeared on the Government’s Find A Job website last week and are still available.
However, Home Office Minister Seema Malhorta said the department had asked for the roles to be scrapped.
Two immigration centres, Harmondsworth and Colnbrook are near Heathrow to allow easy transfers to planes
File image: Thousands of pounds are being spent on hiring staff to teach ballooncraft, cake decorating and floristry to migrants awaiting deporation
File image: A hairdressing tutor, hospitality and floristry tutor, painting and decorating tutor and gym manager are among the 32 jobs currently available at Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre
‘We don’t believe all these roles are necessary and have told the Home Office to speak to Mitie to remove them,’ she told the Sun.
The jobs have been advertised by Mitie a facilities firm that is required to provide recreational services to detainees as part of its 2014 £290million contract with the Home Office.
The gym manager is expected to ‘promote and deliver meaningful gym activities within the sports halls, gym areas and courtyards’.
Meanwhile the hospitality and florist tutor will ‘proactively promote, design, as necessary, and deliver workshops in relevant creative skills including Floristry, cake decorating, ballooncraft, arts and craft activities’.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told The Sun: ‘Labour are pouring taxpayers’ money into perks when every effort should be on deportations.
‘Hiring gym managers and balloon craft tutors for people who must be deported is indefensible and must be stopped immediately.’
Two immigration centres, Harmondsworth and Colnbrook are near Heathrow to allow easy transfers to planes.
Harmondsworth can house up to 658 people and Colnbrook 300 – migrants, including asylum seekers can be housed there while their immigration status is resolves.
Home Office figures show 1,808 people are currently in UK detention centres.
