The petition of residents of the constituency of Ashford in Kent,
Declares that the deployment of Operation Brock by Kent County Council and the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum to queue freight lorries on the M20 causes severe disruption for residents and local businesses; further that although reassurances had been given that Operation Brock would only be deployed in emergencies, it has been used regularly as a precautionary measure; and further that a better, long-term solution needs to be found.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Transport Select Committee to launch an inquiry into the decisions taken by Kent County Council and the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum to regularly deploy Operation Brock, and into what work is being undertaken to find a long-term alternative.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Sojan Joseph, Official Report, 16 July 2025; Vol. 771, c. 389.]
[P003095]
Observations The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Lilian Greenwood):
Operation Brock is just one of the traffic management measures that the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum uses to manage traffic across the county. The Port of Dover and Eurotunnel are key strategic gateways for the UK, both for vital supply chains and to facilitate family holidays and other journeys for business and leisure to France and the wider continent. It is important for the county, and the country as a whole, that during peak periods traffic is managed effectively to avoid widespread disruption across Kent and to keep travel time for freight, passengers and local traffic at an absolute minimum.
KMRF is operationally independent from central Government, and the decision to deploy Operation Brock is based on lessons from previous disruption, expected traffic volumes, and the need to manage any disruption that would otherwise pose a greater safety risk to road users if Operation Brock was not in place.
I fully acknowledge the inconvenience caused to local residents, businesses, hauliers and passengers in Kent when Operation Brock is deployed. However, it is currently the most effective mechanism to filter freight through one strategic road artery and avoid freight and passenger queues spreading across the county, resulting in considerably more disruption for Kent residents.
KMRF keeps all traffic management measures under constant review to ensure they are both effective and proportionate. While the KMRF operates independently, my officials remain in close and constructive engagement with Kent partners to identify improvements and minimise the impact on road users. I am pleased to report that the last two years have seen significant reductions in the use of Operation Brock, and I am keen to see this continue.
We are working towards improvements in traffic forecasting using better data, AI, and learning from recent experiences, and we expect that Operation Brock could be used less on a precautionary basis in future. We are also exploring options which may make it possible to remove the use of Operation Brock, except in extremis.