Suella Braverman is facing the “real danger” that conditions for asylum seekers held at Manston processing facility will once again become inhumane and dangerous, the immigration watchdog has found. David Neal, the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, said the Kent asylum centre, which became overcrowded and disease-ridden last year, could again become overwhelmed because ministers and officials in the Home Office were unable to say where they planned to house at least 55,000 people arriving by small boats this year. His report also said recruitment of staff may be hampered by “the inefficiency of civil service hiring processes and by the tightness of the labour market in the region”. Neal examined the initial processing of people arriving in Kent via small boats, including at Western Jet Foil and Manston. He said arrivals were flowing smoothly in February but “the capacity is not in place to process a large number of people arriving over a short period of time, particularly if, as might well be expected, sufficient onward accommodation is not immediately available. “There remains a very real danger, then, that a shortfall in the capacity of the accommodation estate will see numbers in Manston build up, with a return of unacceptable conditions resembling those seen in October 2022.” Manston was supposed to hold up to 1,600 people seeking asylum for short periods while they underwent security checks. But conditions quickly deteriorated in the autumn after the numbers rose to 4,000. There were cases of infectious diseases, including diphtheria, and outbursts of violence. Hopes were raised that potential overcrowding this year would be avoided by government moves to increase accommodation for asylum seekers. The immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, announced in March that long-trailed plans for camps on former military sites, barges and cruise ships would go ahead. Nevertheless, many of the sites may not be ready to accept asylum seekers for weeks amid legal challenges and local protests. Neal said in his report that he had asked ministers and officials about accommodation for tens of thousands of people expected to arrive in the UK, and had taken away the impression that no one at the Home Office knew where they might stay. “I have received no clear answer from senior officials as to where the 55-85,000 people expected to arrive in 2023/2024 will be accommodated. I do not think that anyone knows yet,” he said. The government is planning to expand a residential holding room facility at Manston where arrivals can be detained for up to 96 hours, but these will take several months to become operational, Neal said. He also said the Home Office could face difficulties recruiting trained staff to work at centres processing the arrivals. “The small boats operational command is already in competition with other areas of the Home Office, with contractors, and with other employers for a limited pool of eligible potential workers. I do therefore worry that the department will be insufficiently agile to recruit and train the numbers it requires in order to respond safely and humanely to the volume of small boat arrivals that is expected over the medium term,” he said. The first alternative accommodation for asylum seekers, a barge at Portland harbour in Dorset, is not set to open until the end of this month, with only small numbers of people able to be housed at the start. Two former RAF bases at Wethersfield in Essex and Scampton in Lincolnshire that are being converted into asylum camps are not expected to open until August. A Home Office spokesperson said: “We welcome this report, which highlights significant improvements we have made in the processing of migrants who arrive via small boats at Western Jet Foil and Manston. “This report acknowledges the great work already done by our staff and recognises the positive changes made across a range of areas including infrastructure, welfare support, biometrics, health screening and communication with migrants. As part of our ongoing work to stop the boats, we have already taken action to address the report’s recommendations and we will continue to ensure there is sufficient onward accommodation to prevent overcrowding at Manston.”