A post-Brexit border inspection post in Poole that cost £2.3 million has conducted only two checks since April.
The 2,000 square meter facility was launched in November, however delays to the government’s plans for a post-Brexit border regime saw physical checks on imports of plant and animal products from the EU only begin three months ago.
Back when the border post was first opened, chief executive of Poole Harbour Commissioners Brian Murphy expressed the port’s excitement “to start promoting this new facility to the European and Rest of World markets.” Eight months later, Murphy told Politico that “two physical checks by the Port Health Authority since April 30 is just madness.” The government spent £1.8 million on the project, while Poole Harbour forked out £500,000 of its own money.
Portsmouth International Port, which the government spent £17.1 million on alongside an additional an additional £6 million from Portsmouth City Council, manages just two to three checks per day.
Both the Poole and Portsmouth ports are expected to make a loss in their first year of operation, with running costs for Poole’s border control post expected to reach £50,000. Richard Ballantyne, chief executive of British Ports Association, told Politico that these border facilities are “barely used, making it difficult or impossible” for them “to recover the costs” of building the necessary infrastructure.
Liz Webster, founder of Save British Farming, an organisation that is campaigning for the UK to rejoin the Single Market to avert the lowering of animal welfare and environmental standards due to post-Brexit trade deals, commented on X that the border inspection facilities represented a “shocking waste of time and money” that could have been “invested in local services” if not for the “Brexit lunacy of the last government.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, however, reassured Politico that “protecting U.K. biosecurity remains one of our key priorities. We will continue working with border control posts to ensure they operate effectively and are resourced appropriately.”
