Customs: Dover

(asked on 20th June 2022) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the cost of acquiring the land for the Dover Inland Border Facility; and what has been the cost of (1) preparatory works undertaken so far to the site, and (2) access to the site.


Answered by
Baroness Penn Portrait
Baroness Penn
Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
This question was answered on 4th July 2022

The Department for Transport (DfT) is the owner of the land at Dover White Cliffs and bought the asset as a strategic and important site for the Government to establish functions that would ease pressure at the border. The Government is currently reviewing potential future use of the site. The initial cost of the land is currently confidential, pending the previous owner’s agreement that this can be released.

The cost for developing the site was £18.3 million, with £6.4 million being spent on preparatory works by HMRC, and a further £11.9 million was spent by DfT towards site readiness before handing the site over to HMRC. These costs include £3.3 million being spent on the access to the site, which would have been incurred anyway in developing the fast-track road. Some of the costs such as site surveys, design, and materials, can be re-used by Government for the subsequent use of the land.

The decision has been made to cease delivery of the Dover IBF following the end of staged customs controls in January 2022. The demand on the IBF’s has been lower than expected, and trade is flowing well into and out of GB, utilising the services HMRC and commercial operators offer.

The revised forecasting shows a substantial reduction in demand which has resulted in an opportunity to review the current size of the IBF network and identify substantial savings to the public purse of up to £120 million by ceasing delivery of Dover IBF.

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