HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has announced changes to the planned introduction and life-span of some of its Inland Border Facilities (IBFs).
The proposed new site at Dover will not be progressed following a review of cross channel traffic and associated checks as existing facilities are shown to have enough capacity to deal with the flow of traffic.
The decision to not build the Inland Border Facility does not mean that this asset is no longer required by government. Department for Transport (DfT) is now exploring alternative options for its development to ease pressure at the border, given issues with disruption on the strategic road network in Kent and at the ports.
Alongside Dover, the decision has also been made to close the Birmingham and North Weald IBF sites ahead of schedule. These IBF sites were introduced on a temporary basis to support customs checks when the UK first left the EU.
Now the sites in Holyhead and Sevington are fully operational and coping well with demand, HMRC no longer needs the support of the interim sites.
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