Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the scope of HMRC’s Customs Training Grants to private individuals who wish to undertake qualifications at the Institute of Export and UK Customs Academy in the context of the shortage of trained customs professionals.

The Government provided support to the intermediary sector through the grant scheme. We made over £80 million available to the intermediaries sector via the intermediaries grant scheme to help it scale up. This included grant funding for customs IT, training, and recruitment of staff. The fund has now been fully allocated and no further applications are being accepted.

The customs intermediary sector has significantly increased its capacity to meet demand following the introduction of full customs controls from 1 January 2022.

HMRC continues to closely monitor the capacity of the sector, and its ability to respond to demand through regular engagement and surveys. HMRC continue to engage closely with the sector to understand how it is responding and to keep their support measures under constant close review.

To further support traders, on 15 March 2021 HMRC launched the £20 million SME Brexit Support Fund to support small and medium sized businesses to adjust to new customs, Rules of Origin, and VAT rules when trading with the EU. The fund has now closed.