Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial payments the UK has made to France to assist in the prevention of illegal migration in each of the last five financial years.

The UK and France maintain a longstanding relationship on tackling illegal migration at the shared border; since 2015 the UK has committed several funding packages to supporting this work. In 2015, both countries signed a Joint Declaration which committed £10 million towards security reviews of the juxtaposed controls and to moving migrants into reception centres across France. This was followed by payments in 2016 (£17 million) and 2017 (£36 million) to further strengthen the border and maintain the operation of the juxtaposed controls.

In January 2018 both countries signed the Sandhurst Treaty. The UK made a commitment of €50 million (£45.5m) to implement the terms of the Treaty, which adopted a “whole of route approach” to tackling illegal migration. This was followed in 2019 by the signature of the Joint Action Plan on Combatting Illegal Migration Involving Small Boats. Under paragraph 11 of this plan, the UK committed €3.6m (approximately £3.25m) to tackling the issue. This was supplemented with a further €2.5m (£2.25m) in the 19/20 Financial Year, which was dedicated to the deployment of gendarme reservists and further strengthening preventive security measures at the French coast.