When people talk about national systems and infrastructure, local government is often seen as the delivery arm rather than part of the solution. In our experience at Ashford, that distinction does not really hold.
Setting up the Port Health service at Sevington was about making a new border control model work in practice. There was no template to follow, and we were doing it in the middle of a shifting national policy landscape. At times, it felt like we were building the plane while flying it.
What has become clear since is that services like this only work if they are grounded in delivery. Policy sets the direction, but it is local authorities that make it function day to day.
At Sevington, we now operate a 24-hour service, employing a substantial multidisciplinary team across a mix of roles, including Port Health Officers, veterinary professionals and technical staff. Around 168 jobs have been created and sustained through the service, reflecting not only the size of the operation but its growing importance to the local economy.
That importance is underlined by the role of the short straits as a key pinch point in national supply chains, and the need for effective controls at this point in the system. Volumes have been significantly higher than originally anticipated, running at more than three times the original forecasts, with around 22,800 import notifications processed each month on average. The service has had to adapt quickly, refining processes, building capacity and working closely with partners on site, including DEFRA, Border Force and HMRC, to make sure the system works as intended.
That ability to adapt has been critical, particularly when responding to animal disease outbreaks in Europe. These situations do not arrive neatly or with much notice. They test the system, and the response depends on having the right people in place and the confidence to make decisions quickly.
We have also removed a substantial volume of non-compliant food from the supply chain, including over 200 tonnes seized and destroyed since late 2024. That is an important outcome, but it is only one part of the picture. The wider role is about managing risk while still allowing trade to move, maintaining strong biosecurity controls and preventing unsafe goods from entering the UK market.
A key part of making the service function has been how we approached the workforce. Alongside experienced officers, we have invested heavily in developing our own people because the reality is there simply are not enough qualified professionals coming through nationally.
Since 2021, we have secured around £1 million in funding and supported over 100 members of staff through structured training and professional development. That includes formal qualifications with universities such as Birmingham, Middlesex and Derby, alongside practical, on-the-job experience.
What has worked well is linking that training directly to the day job. People are dealing with real cases early on. It is not always straightforward, but it builds confidence quickly and means that by the time individuals are fully qualified, they are ready to operate in a complex environment.
Alongside workforce development, we have had to look closely at how the service operates day to day. Much of the work is technical, and some of it is repetitive, particularly around document checks.
We have begun introducing AI-assisted tools into parts of the process to support that work. Alongside this, bespoke digital systems and process redesign have delivered productivity improvements of around 40%, helping the service respond to higher volumes without compromising standards.
For me, what matters most is that officers are still making the key decisions. The technology supports them, rather than replaces them, giving better information and more time to focus on higher-risk areas.
From a local government perspective there is a wider point here. Delivering national infrastructure, whether physical or regulatory, increasingly relies on local capability, but it also depends on effective collaboration between authorities and national agencies. No single authority can operate in isolation. At Sevington, the system only works because of the way local government, central government bodies and the wider port health network operate alongside each other to secure safe food supplies, sharing information and responding collectively to risk.
There is also a wider practical point here around cost and flow. Export Health Certificates are a relatively small part of the overall cost of moving goods, but time is critical. Delays quickly become expensive across the wider supply chain. That is why a key part of our focus has been on putting in place controls that protect the border while keeping disruption, delay and additional cost to the commercial sector to a minimum.
Alongside the AI work, we are also looking at how programmes such as TWIN can support that. It is essentially about making better use of data and digital systems to improve how the border operates, particularly where we do not have the same level of advance information, such as manifests, as some other points of entry. The aim is to keep improving performance without compromising standards.
The service is designed to be fully cost-recoverable, with the costs of enforcement activity recovered from importers, meaning there is no burden on the UK taxpayer. That allows us to keep investing in both people and systems without adding pressure locally.
Looking ahead, there is still uncertainty, particularly around the future of EU import controls. From an operational point of view, the priority is to maintain a system that is proportionate, effective and capable of responding to changing risks. A lot has been built in a relatively short period of time, and it would be a mistake to lose that, particularly when biosecurity risks across Europe remain high.
From a local government perspective there is a wider point here. Delivering national infrastructure, whether physical or regulatory, increasingly relies on local capability, but it also depends on effective collaboration between authorities and national agencies. No single authority can operate in isolation. At Sevington, the system only works because of the way local government, central government bodies and the wider port health network operate alongside each other to secure safe food supplies, sharing information and responding collectively to risk.
In practice, that has meant building a service from the ground up, developing a workforce alongside it, and putting in place systems that can respond to real-world pressures.
Anthony Baldock is corporate director of health and wellbeing at Ashford BC and leads the Ashford Port Health service at the Sevington Inland Border Facility. He is also chairman of the Association of Port Health Authorities.
