Statement in response to UK – EU food and drink checks

Cllr Steve Pitt, Leader of Portsmouth City Council said: “After five turbulent years of uncertainty, we welcome the news that food and animal imports, and border checks, could be simplified. As a major port anything that avoids delays is always welcomed.

“We have repeatedly asked for a clear direction on the future of the Border Control Posts (BCP), ours is a significant piece of infrastructure that takes up two acres of operational land and has meant a loss of commercial opportunity for the port.

“As a local authority owned port, £6m of the council’s budget has been spent building this highly specialist, bespoke facility. It 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.

“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 three years old.

“As a council owned facility, we are obviously also concerned about our staff in port health and will ensure all changes take place in consultation with them as we get further clarity from government.”