Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of Warrington Inland Border Facility’s capacity to undertake sanitary and phytosanitary checks in the event that a Border Control Post at Parc Cybi is not operational by January 2022.

There has been engagement with Welsh Government counterparts - as well as weekly engagement at official level - about the inland border sites in North Wales. Provision of Border Control Posts for SPS checks is a devolved matter. However, Defra, HMRC, Wales Office, and Welsh Government are working constructively to define an appropriate control regime for customs and biosecurity checks to be in place and operational at the sites in Parc Cybi from 1 January.

The Warrington Inland Border Facility has been operational since January 2021 and has the capacity to handle more than 700 goods vehicle movements per day for customs checks. Together with other inland border facilities, such as Birmingham and Sevington, there is more than adequate capacity to accommodate any shortfall capacity at Welsh ports and inland sites in January 2022, should this be needed.