Compensation sought over 'redundant' port facility

The head of the UK's second-largest cross-Channel port has called for compensation as a £23m facility could be rendered unnecessary by a new UK-EU deal.

Portsmouth City Council invested £6m into the Border Control Post (BCP) at Portsmouth International Port in preparation for post-Brexit rules on trade.

Port director Mike Sellers said the centre, which was built for 80 trailer checks a day but had averaged two, would not be needed if the draft deal came into force.

The government said it was building a "close relationship" with the EU that would strengthen the economy, protect British industry, and create opportunities for young people, but did not directly address calls for compensation.

The 4,500sqm (48,400sq ft) centre was built in 2021 in anticipation of post-Brexit checks on food, plant, timber and animal imports, with £17m of its cost covered by a government grant.

"We built something that took two acres of our land - operational land that had to carry out, on average, 80 trailer checks a day - and by the time that the operating model that the government settled on in 2024, that went down to an average of two checks a day," said Sellers.

"So it's never ever been used for the scale that it was built for."

Sellers said it now looked likely the centre would no longer be needed as a result of the draft deal, which is expected to come into force in spring 2028.

He continued: "So 100% we need compensation for the amount of money that's been put into this."

Steve Pitt, the Liberal Democrat leader of Portsmouth City Council, said the draft UK-EU agreement would make the BCP redundant and confirmed the authority would seek to recover its financial shortfall.

"We welcome the news this means for consumers, reducing red-tape and delays at the borders for businesses," he said.

"However, this specialist facility cost over £23m to build and, if there isn't a need for inspections to take place, we may have to consider demolishing a building that is less than four years old."

After the UK left the EU, the government published its Border Operating Model in July 2020.

It set out checks on food, plants and animal products coming in from Europe.

Ports handling those goods had to build BCPs for physical inspections.

Sellers said more than 40 ports had to build one, scaled to the goods they handled.

Portsmouth applied to the government's Port Infrastructure Fund for about £23m and received £17.1m.

The council covered the rest, which it hoped to recoup through a Common User Charge on importers using the post.

According to the port, the facility was designed for about 80 trailer checks a day based on Defra estimates.

It has 14 loading bays and 17 chambers, including freezers, chillers and laboratory space, plus bio-secure drainage and detention areas.

Physical checks were due to start in January 2022 but were delayed several times.

The government cited concerns about adding costs for consumers during the cost-of-living crisis.

In August 2023 it introduced a revised, risk-based system that focused checks on higher-risk products.

Checks finally began on 30 April 2024.

Portsmouth handles few high-risk goods, so the post has averaged about two checks a day, Sellers said.

The port said its bio-secure design meant it could only shrink the facility to seven bays and eight chambers.

Starting from scratch with current data, it said it would have built four bays and six chambers at most.

Under the draft deal, the UK would follow EU food and animal standards in return for removing most checks and certificates.

The government says this will be worth up to £5.1bn a year to the economy, and talks continue ahead of a UK-EU summit on 20 November.

The government says BCPs remain a requirement until a new deal is in place.

The port expects its post to be unneeded from spring 2028, when the Common User Charge would also end.

The port says the building is too specialised to easily reuse, so it may have to repurpose or demolish it to free up two acres of operational land.

It wants the government help with either option.