Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the costs of establishing and operating Border Control Posts for the inspection of plants and other horticultural products.

Border Control Posts (BCPs) are not being built or operated by the UK Government. The Government has provided generous funding to help local authorities construct and operate BCPs. This includes up to £200 million in grant funding from the Port Infrastructure Fund and Defra has provided £14 million to help recruit and train staff to support the checking regime.