Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much public money has been spent on the building of inland border facilities as of 6 September 2022.

Inland Border Facilities (IBFs) were introduced to help facilitate the flow of trade at the border following the UK leaving the EU, and to provide support to ports that were unable to provide the infrastructure required. HMRC ensure all build costs associated with IBFs represent value for money. HMRC monitor the performance at all IBF locations and continuously work to ensure a proactive, continuous improvement approach across the IBF network.

Since April 2020, when HMRC spend on building IBF’s commenced, to the end of August 2022, HMRC has spent around £100 million on the building of IBFs. This includes temporary sites such as Manston, Waterbrook, Birmingham, North Weald, Warrington, and Ebbsfleet that became operational from January 2021 in time for the UK leaving the EU. This also includes an enduring site at Holyhead, as well as early development costs at Dover before a decision was made to not to continue with the build.

Further investment is currently underway to complete the Holyhead IBF.

It is worth noting that the enduring site at Sevington was delivered by the Department for Transport, and so HMRC do not hold these costs.