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<p>In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions
within Government are not normally disclosed. Cabinet Office officials are in regular
contact with ports across the UK as part of their regular engagement. This includes
all ports which applied to the fund. This contact is ongoing. There were no discussions
between Cabinet Office officials or ministers and the Rt Hon. Member for Epsom and
Ewell regarding the Port Infrastructure Fund.</p><p>The Port Infrastructure Fund (PIF)
team worked with an independent eligibility and assessment team, with specialist experience
and technical expertise in rail, air and maritime port infrastructure design and build
to assess the funding applications. The Fund Allocation Authority (FAA), which is
made up of representatives from across the relevant government departments such as
HMRC, Defra and Border Force, subsequently made decisions about allocations based
on the recommendations of the PIF Team.</p><p>The Fund received 53 applications from
a range of sea ports, rail facilities and airports. Of the 53 ports that applied to
the fund, 41 were successful in their application and a total of £200M has been provisionally
allocated. 12 ports were not considered eligible or were unsuccessful at assessment
phase.</p><p>It is a commercial decision for ports as to whether to provide these
facilities. In normal circumstances, ports would be expected to fund such facilities
themselves. However - in recognition of the unique circumstances of EU Exit, and the
tight timescales for putting infrastructure in place - Government has made £470m of
funding available to support border readiness.</p><p>Ports will need to fund the remaining
34% themselves. As the maximum amount of funding available was £200 million, a 66%
award was applied across all applications ensuring all successful bids received a
fair and proportionate level of taxpayer funded support.</p><p> </p>
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