£100m spent on UK border facilities that were never used

Five of England and Wales’s seven inland border facilities built for post-Brexit checks never became operational, according to the National Audit Office. The UK’s post-Brexit Conservative governments spent more than £100m (€120m) on the sites, which were intended to support checks on goods.

European News·November 9, 2026·reads: 2,581

The NAO put the overall cost of implementing Brexit at £4.7bn (€5.6bn). The article says much of the taxpayer money went on systems that could soon become obsolete if Andy Burnham’s government remains in power for a few years.

The five facilities were left unused after the Conservative governments concluded that food from the EU would remain at the same high standard as before Brexit, making additional checks unnecessary. Facilities that have been used are also due to be mothballed in a few months under a new EU-UK agreement on food and drink products that aligns regulations between London and Brussels.

Eurotunnel separately spent €50m on Brexit checks for trucks and €90m on passenger-related changes, according to information disclosed through freedom of information requests. Those changes included an entry and exit system that French authorities have never used.