Border Force trainees ‘stripped of free accommodation for asylum course’

People told to make daily round trips of up to three hours and that not turning up on time may result in failure, union says

People training as Border Force guards have been stripped of free accommodation while they are being taught how to assess people seeking asylum who are subsequently placed in hotels, a union has disclosed.

Instead, they have been asked to drive or use public transport for round-trip journeys of several hours to their training courses, a spokesperson for the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said. The trainees face the possibility of failing their course if they do not turn up on time.