Britain and France are “united” in their efforts to curb small boat crossings, Downing Street says, as the Government seeks to renew a crucial migration agreement with Paris before its expiry next week.
The current arrangement, valued at nearly £500 million, is set to conclude at the end of March.
No 10 has emphasised the need for “long-term value for money” in any successor deal.
The previous Conservative government, when announcing the £478 million package in 2023, said that it would finance a new detention centre in France and hundreds of additional law enforcement officers on French shores.
Despite the investment, Channel crossings have increased, with 41,472 people arriving in the UK by small boat in 2025.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is now facing considerable pressure to reduce these numbers.
Ms Mahmood is understood to be advocating for the new agreement to incorporate performance-related clauses, which would tie funding directly to the proportion of boats intercepted by French authorities, according to reports in The Times.
A Home Office delegation is in Paris this week to negotiate the terms of the renewal, as reported by The Sun.
Downing Street, however, declined to specify the financial commitment that the Government is prepared to make for a fresh deal when questioned by reporters on Monday.
Asked whether Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wanted to see the existing deal improved, his spokesman said: “We always want to improve where we can improve our abilities to prevent small boat crossings.
“I won’t get ahead of negotiations but we are looking at how we can build flexibility and innovation into any deal with the French to ensure that there is long-term value for money and a real impact on small boat crossings that builds on the 40,000 crossing attempts that have been prevented since this Government came into office.”
Asked whether the existing deal had provided value for money, he said the preventions were “a testament to the work our teams have been undertaking with French teams”.
“We are united in wanting to stop small boat crossings, which put lives at risk,” the official added.
So far this year, some 4,169 people have arrived in the UK on small boats, according to official figures, including 190 people in two vessels on Sunday.
Pictures showed people being brought ashore in Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on Monday.
