Lack of Government contingency planning risks Brexit border chaos, says committee of MPs

• ·         In a report published today, the Home Affairs Select Committee raises serious concerns about the Government’s contingency planning for post-Brexit customs operations and warns major border disruption could ensue unless urgent action is taken.
• ·         The report notes that maintaining the operational status quo for customs arrangements and remaining in the customs union would cause the least upheaval at the border and deliver certainty for business. The Government should aim to swiftly agree transitional arrangements with the EU which involve no practical change to customs operations either in the UK or the EU, and especially at the Irish border. 
• ·         The Committee specifically warns of the risks if no deal is secured, which would result in customs in the UK experiencing a huge amount of change in a very short time, with a vast increase required in capacity and processes at the border.
• ·         The report warns that rapid changes and a failure to plan could see the UK facing delays and traffic jams at ports similar to those experienced in July 2015 when French ferry operators went on strike and Operation Stack was implemented to ease major problems.
• ·         It warns that any change to customs arrangements after March 2019 will require similar investment and planning at the EU side of the border - especially in France, Belgium and Ireland or there will be serious delays for UK exports.
• ·         The Committee raises concerns that a 4% increase in Border Force staff is too small as they carry out customs checks in many ports. The report warns of the risk of Border Force being diverted from security and immigration checks into customs checks and emphasises that security must not be put at risk by government failure to plan.
• ·         The Committee welcomes proposals to use the approved operators scheme but calls for action to accredit more businesses now
• ·         The Committee warns that insufficient contingency planning has been done for Britain leaving the EU with no deal. The report today calls on the Government to publish detailed plans on the impact on Britain’s customs arrangements of all potential outcomes of the Brexit negotiations, including a no deal. This should provide detail on additional staffing required, additional infrastructure, the new processes for business, and set out the costs of these plans.
• ·         The Committee criticises the lack of coordination across government, who were unable to specify which single Minister is responsible for border planning. The report calls on the Government to act and put in place a lead Minister to oversee this substantial body of work. 

Chair of the Home Affairs Committee, Yvette Cooper MP, commented:

“The Government's border planning for Brexit is extremely unconvincing. 

“The Government should be aiming for transition arrangements which require no change at all in customs and border requirements as everyone is running out of time to make any staffing, infrastructure or procedural changes - and they risk long delays at the border, both in the UK and abroad. 

“But there must also be an urgent acceleration of contingency planning in case there is no deal at all. We found the 4% increase in Border Force staff at the borders completely unconvincing. The Government must not allow bad policy decisions or poor contingency planning to mean that Border Force staff are pulled away from security, illegal goods and immigration checks to cover for customs chaos. Ministers must not allow Brexit implementation put our security at risk.

“Ports, haulage and logistics companies have made very clear the problems they will face without a clear indication very soon of the contingencies which the Government is considering for post-Brexit customs arrangements in the different possible scenarios, including a transitional period or no deal at all.

“It is clear from the evidence the Committee has taken that remaining in the customs union, particularly during the transition deal, is the best way of avoiding the chaos and high costs predicted by traders and trade bodies, like the CBI. However, we recognise this is not the option currently favoured by the Government.

“Home Office Ministers must now demonstrate that they are aware of the risks of introducing new customs arrangements and understand the work needed to mitigate them. As a matter of urgency, it must provide details for the no deal scenario that they stress they are not afraid of, including the numbers of extra staff that will be needed to implement the new processes, and new infrastructure requirements and processes, and the associated costs. They must detail the timescales and mechanisms that will be put in place and allow businesses to plan ahead.

“As things stand, the Government is running the risk of celebrating their first day of Brexit with the sight of queues of lorries stretching for miles in Kent and gridlock on the roads of Northern Ireland, which would be incredibly damaging to the UK economy and completely unacceptable to the country. Contingency planning is essential. If the Government gets this all wrong, we could be facing Operation Stack on steroids.

“We expect a speedy response to this report from the Government to demonstrate that it has now taken these vital matters in hand – and we want to know which Minister is in charge. The current pace of contingency planning is insufficient and risky.”

Copies of the report will be available on the Committee’s website from the time of publication.

Background information:

This is the first in a series of planned reports examining the capacity of the Home Office to meet the challenges of Brexit.