Scrapped plans for a £41 million Home Office building in Stoke-on-Trent would have included cells for failed asylum seekers, it has emerged.

The proposed building at Smithfield in the city centre would have been 'bomb proof' due to it being a detention facility along with a base for 500 Home Office civil servants – increasing its cost.

But it was announced earlier this year that the project had been abandoned, with the Home Office now set to take out a long-term lease for existing office space in the city centre. Stoke-on-Trent City Council's Labour leader Jane Ashworth revealed the details about the proposed building during a council debate on the Home Office's decision.

Opposition Conservative councillors had proposed a motion condemning the government for scrapping the plans. But Cllr Ashworth defended the government's decision, saying that it made sense to drop the proposals once the detention facility was no longer needed.

Cllr Jane Ashworth revealed details about the proposed building during a council debate (LDRS).

She said: "The Home Office building was going to be so expensive because it needed to be protected against violent attack. Why did it have to be built that way? Because it was going to house people who failed their immigration application.

"Once it was decided by this government that it was not necessary to have those cells outside of the major immigration centres, it was no longer necessary to have such a secure building."

The decision to create Home Office jobs in Stoke-on-Trent was made by the previous Conservative government, as part of a drive to move civil servants out of London. Around 500 Home Office workers are currently based at Two Smithfield in Hanley.

The city council was set to spend £40.8 million on a new building for the workers, with the Home Office expected to take out a 25-year lease for it. But in October the council revealed that the plans for the new building had been dropped. Shortly afterwards the government announced that it was abolishing the Office for Place, a Stoke-on-Trent-based team which worked to promote good design and place-making.

Conservative group leader Dan Jellyman proposed the motion to full council criticising both of these decisions.

Conservative leader Dan Jellyman criticised the decicions (Image supplied).

Cllr Jellyman said: "It's a very sad fact that the new Labour government have scrapped that building, and have scrapped the Office for Place, a very small office that had the potential to grow and attract other civil service jobs to Stoke-on-Trent. Other major cities in the UK – like Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol – all have civil service departments in them. Stoke-on-Trent was an exception to that. And then the Home Office came and the Office for Place came, but now we're seeing a rolling back of this – jobs being taken away, offices closing, buildings not being built.

"As a council, we need to be making it clear to government that this isn't right."

Councillor Faisal Hussain, who seconded the motion, added: "It's sad to see what this shambolic Labour government is doing to our great city. By closing the Office for Place, the new government has axed high skill and high wage jobs, and pushed away experts from helping to regenerate Stoke-on-Trent.

"Members opposite often talk about regeneration, but after a year-and-a-half in office, what have they done? What are their plans? Because we can't see to see any ideas from them to regenerate our city."

The Tory councillors said that under the Conservative government, 465 civil service jobs had been created in Stoke-on-Trent between 2021 and 2024. They claimed that this was now at risk under Labour.

But Cllr Ashworth accused the Conservatives of 'not giving full picture'. She said: "The 500 jobs in Home Office are here to stay. You know that and we know that. That was the deal that was made when there was talk about this 'semi-bomb proof' building, and it's still the deal now. There's a lot to be said for repurposing buildings in our city centre, and that is exactly what is happening now."

Fellow Labour councillor Shaun Pender proposed an amendment to the motion, removing the criticism of the government and noting that the current plans would offer better value for money.

Cllr Pender said: "The new Labour government faced huge financial challenges when it was elected to office in July. So it was right and proper that they had to review all major projects to ensure best value for money in these really difficult times."

Despite opposition from the Conservative group, the amended motion was carried.

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