Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on congestion in Kent of (a) 50 per cent and (b) 85 per cent of HGVs not being ready for French customs in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
An assessment of potential traffic disruption in Kent as a result of EU Member State checks has been produced, under a range of different assumptions for trader readiness. These have been shared with relevant partners including the Kent Resilience Forum, in order to support their preparation work.
There are already well progressed plans in place to manage any traffic disruption in Kent in the event of a no-deal scenario. Operation Brock has been developed with the Kent Resilience Forum to ensure that the M20 will be kept open and traffic will continue to flow in both directions at times of cross-Channel disruption.
If hauliers have the correct documentation, there should be no disruption at the UK-France border, although this will in part depend on how the French border authorities implement checks. Government is implementing a multi-channel communications campaign to ensure hauliers are able to operate and trade can continue to move as freely as possible between the UK and Europe. Please note the, ‘Transporting goods between the UK and EU in a no-deal Brexit: guidance for hauliers’ has been published today and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/transporting-goods-between-the-uk-and-eu-in-a-no-deal-brexit-guidance-for-hauliers