Government clueless on cost of new Brexit checks for businesses

A new statement from the Treasury suggests that the UK Government has collected no data about how much new post-Brexit import checks are costing businesses.

In response to a written question from Paul Blomfield MP, who sits on the UK Trade and Business Commission, Financial Secretary Lucy Frazer MP was unable to describe any government analysis of the additional administrative costs of new customs checks for exporters and importers since 1 January 2022. She was further unable to outline if the Government records or holds any data on these additional costs which continue to hamstring UK businesses. 

Coming just weeks after the Public Accounts Committee report found that ‘the only detectable impact’ of Brexit had been ‘increased costs, paperwork and border delays’, the statement from the Treasury has increased concerns that that government is wilfully ignoring the detrimental impact of new barriers to trade on British businesses.

The revelations come ahead of a live session of the UK Trade and Business Commission, which will take evidence from Small and Medium Enterprises facing extreme financial pressures as a result of import checks, including new additional administrative costs.

One such business is that belonging to wine wholesaler, Daniel Lambert, who is based in Wales and has been trading for almost 30 years. His business is facing an additional £75,000 in costs per annum due to new import checks introduced in January 2021 and as a result will be forced to relocate part of his business to France this summer before even more checks are introduced later this year.

Daniel Lambert, Managing Director of Daniel Lambert Wines, said:

“When it comes to Brexit, I constantly think: what is the benefit to anybody? To this day, I see only increased costs for the supply chain, businesses and consumers, both in Europe and the UK.

“We’re paying through the nose just to maintain the status quo and with more checks on the way, we are being forced to relocate in part to France despite our preference to stay in Wales where we have been for 30 years.”

Paul Blomfield, Labour MP and UK Trade and Business Commissioner who tabled the written question, said:

“The Treasury’s evasive response has revealed that not only do they not have a clue about the huge financial costs they have dumped on UK businesses through their flawed deal, they don’t even care enough to find out.

“To ensure more British jobs are not lost, the government must assess the impact their trade barriers are having, work with the EU to cut red tape and reopen the SME Brexit Support Fund with a simpler application process and more substantial grants.”