But the total revenue generated by the common user charge between May 2024 and March 2025 was just \u00a312.58mn, according to figures from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) obtained by the Freight Liaison group through a freedom of information request. <\/p>\n
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The inland border facility at Sevington near Ashford was built in 2021 to accommodate the flood of lorries anticipated in the event of a no-deal Brexit \u00a9 Charlie Bibby\/FT<\/p>\n
In a committee hearing on Tuesday, Defra director-general for food and biosecurity Emily Miles said the government expected a \u201cscaling back of some checks\u201d that would mean \u201ca decommissioning of some facilities\u201d. She added the government still needed \u201cto work through where and how\u201d. \u00a0<\/p>\n
UK government officials have told supermarkets that a veterinary agreement with the EU could be signed as early as the end of this year, with border checks being substantially reduced from the first half of 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Portsmouth, a local authority-owned port, was among those that said it would be seeking compensation after spending \u00a36mn of council funds towards a \u00a323mn, two-acre facility that is taking up land that port had hoped to use for other commercial purposes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was hoped that we could recoup costs through charging for goods to be inspected, however, if the BCP is no longer in use we will be looking for compensation from government to recover the shortfall,\u201d said Steve Pitt, the leader of Portsmouth City Council.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He added the facility, which is less than 3-years-old and was built for a highly specialised role that makes it extremely difficult to repurpose, might now need to be demolished.<\/p>\n
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The UK-EU deal should render superfluous the 41 border facilities built by Britain\u2019s port operators to accommodate post-Brexit checks \u00a9 Charlie Bibby\/FT<\/p>\n
The British Ports Association (BPA), the trade body for ports and harbours in the UK, said that it estimated that the industry had collectively spent \u00a3120mn building 41 BCPs that were requested by the previous Conservative government in 2020 to fully implement Brexit.<\/p>\n
The scheme caused anger<\/a> among port executives at the time when it emerged that a \u00a3200mn government fund would cover only two-thirds of the cost of the new BCPs, leaving ports to pick up the balance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Multiple delays in fully implementing border checks on EU imports \u2014 caused by government fears of border queues and higher food prices \u2014 meant the completed BCPs remained unused for nearly two years, leaving port executives fuming about the \u201cwhite elephant\u201d projects<\/a>.<\/p>\n The facilities finally opened<\/a> on April 30 last year, although it emerged that many loads were being waved through because UK border control computer systems were only partially functional<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n