The UK is set to invest up to £660 million in a new agreement with France that will expand patrols, intelligence work and maritime operations on the northern French coast, as ministers seek to reduce small boat crossings of the Channel.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was expected to sign the deal later on Wednesday. According to the Home Office, it would raise the number of law enforcement, intelligence and military personnel deployed in northern France by 40 per cent, from about 750 to nearly 1,100.
Under the plan, £500 million would be provided upfront, with a further £160 million made available only if the new tactics lead to a reduction in crossings. The Home Office said it was the first time additional funding in the UK-France arrangement had been tied directly to results, and that the uplift would stop after one year if the measures were unsuccessful.
The package includes a new 50-officer riot and crowd-control unit, an expansion of a specialist intelligence and judicial policing team from 18 to 30 officers, and new surveillance assets including drones, two helicopters and a camera monitoring system.
French maritime operations are also due to be expanded, with a new vessel and more than 20 additional officers tasked with intercepting boats used to pick up migrants offshore.
The Home Office said the extra units would be deployed over the summer, traditionally the busiest period for Channel crossings.
According to the department, joint work with France has prevented more than 42,000 attempted crossings since the election through interventions and dispersal on beaches. It also said 480 people suspected of involvement in migrant smuggling were arrested in 2025 as part of joint law enforcement operations.
Officials said French maritime teams had stopped six so-called “taxi boats” in the past two months, returning all migrants on board to France. The Home Office said five smugglers had since been sentenced to prison and deportation.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the agreement would “ramp up intelligence, surveillance and boots on the ground to protect Britain’s borders”.
“We must restore order and control to our borders,” Starmer said. “That means bearing down on these dangerous crossings and bringing people smugglers to justice.”
Mahmood said existing co-operation with France had already stopped “tens of thousands” of attempted departures, but added that “we must do more”.
“This landmark deal will stop illegal migrants making the perilous journey and put people smugglers behind bars,” she said.
The announcement forms part of a wider government push on migration enforcement, which ministers describe as part of the largest reforms to tackle illegal migration since the Second World War and an effort to remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to the UK. The Home Office said nearly 60,000 people with no right to remain in the UK, including foreign criminals, had been removed or deported since the government took office, up 31 per cent, while arrests linked to illegal working had risen by 83 per cent and enforcement raids by 77 per cent, which it said had reached the highest levels in British history.
The government also said it remained committed to closing asylum hotels and moving asylum seekers into what it described as more basic accommodation, including former military sites.