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Inland Border Facilities

Asked by Stephen GethinsScottish National PartyTreasuryTabled Answered 12 September 2025UIN 75655

The question

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse of (a) building border inspection facilities, (b) operating border inspection facilities annually since construction and (c) in total was since the UK left the EU.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson

Customs infrastructure at Inland Border Facilities (IBFs) is essential to protect the UK by ensuring risk-based checks on goods entering and leaving the country can take place. The cost to HMRC of building and setting up both enduring and temporary sites was £89m.

The annual cost to HMRC for the operation of IBFs is £32m.

The total cost since leaving the EU (up to 31st March 25) was £495m, this included £20m for decommissioning costs at temporary sites.

In April 2025, Government announced amendments to existing legislation to require all approved border locations to provide and fund their own customs infrastructure. This includes border locations which currently benefit from Government provision of IBFs.

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