Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
What steps his Department has taken to implement Operation Yellowhammer in the transport sector.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department has worked extensively with our stakeholders across the transport sector to prepare for Brexit. In Kent our work with the Local Resilience Forum has helped deliver Operation Brock, the locally owned and activated plan that will manage traffic disruption in Kent
We are conducting a comprehensive multi-channel campaign to improve trader readiness. We produced a Haulier Handbook in conjunction with industry which has been delivered to 82,000 UK hauliers and managers. We have over 100 Brexit information pop-ups live in the UK and 26 at EU sites, including 600 ferry crossings a week.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) cost to the public purse of and (b) length of time required for Government-secured freight capacity in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The framework will be in place for four years, and has a maximum value of £300 million over that timeframe, of which up to £150 million will be available to secure freight capacity for EU Exit preparedness.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of HGV operations that that will be prepared for new border processes on 31 October 2019 in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
We have now worked extensively with hauliers’ associations like the RHA and FTA, meaning we are now substantially better prepared than we would have been in March.
The Government published its assessment of the flow of freight across the border in a Reasonable Worst Case scenario as part of its response to the Humble Address motion of 9 September. This set out the assumptions drawn up under the last government.
Over recent months, the Government has taken significant steps to improve levels of trader and haulier readiness to improve overall flow across the short Strait crossings. This includes a £100m public information campaign and additional funding for businesses and trade associations to draw upon to enable preparations.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the improvements to port infrastructure on the UK side of channel since June 2019 on potential goods disruption after the UK leaves the EU; and what comparative assessment he has made of the effect of those improvements and the improvements made on the French side of the English Channel.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
It was announced on 26 September that sixteen ports across England will receive a share of a multimillion-pound funding pot to help their preparations for Brexit on 31 October and beyond. The successful bidders of the £10 million Port Infrastructure Resilience and Connectivity (PIRC) competition offers ports up to £1 million each to deliver important infrastructure upgrades to help keep traffic and trade flowing smoothly across the border.
The fund is part of a wider £30 million government package to support ports across England to operate efficiently post-Brexit of which DfT is providing up to £5 million to four Local Resilience Forums (LRF) outside Kent with the highest volumes of accompanied road freight traffic with EU ports. A further £15 million will go towards the development of longer-term projects to boost road and rail links to ports.
It is for the relevant LRFs to consider how this impacts on port infrastructure and local traffic management plans. DfT will continue to support this work.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on UK ports of the UK leaving the EU under the Government's worst case planning assumptions.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department has been liaising with ports and local partners on Brexit preparedness, for some time. In Kent, along with Highways England and other partners, the Department has been working closely to develop Operation Brock, which is intended to provide the resilience and flexibility required to deal with any disruption to cross-Channel travel from Kent ports. As well as keeping freight moving through our ports, the contingency measures of Operation Brock are designed to keep Kent’s road network moving for local people, businesses and visitors.
The Department has also engaged closely with localities outside Kent, and has recently shared revised analysis of the potential impact of a no deal Brexit on key ports with the Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) in Humber, Hampshire and Isle of Wight, Merseyside, Lancashire, Essex and North Wales. It is now for those LRFs to consider how this impacts on their traffic management contingency plans and whether any amendments are required.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason was the Government's procurement of additional freight capacity delayed.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Government has been preparing since Article 50 was extended in April, and issued a Prior Information Notice to the market on 28 June marking the start of formal procurement activities. The Freight Capacity framework was put in place on 20 September and the Government remains on course to provide capacity to carry ‘category 1’ goods by 31 October.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of freight capacity for priority goods will be in place by 31 October 2019; and what assessment he has made of the effect on the supply of priority goods in the event that that capacity is not made available until 30 November 2019.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Government has been preparing since Article 50 was extended in April, and issued a Prior Information Notice to the market on 28 June marking the start of formal procurement activities. The Freight Capacity framework was put in place on 20 September and the Government remains on course to provide capacity to carry ‘category 1’ goods by 31 October.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of Operation Transmission on the operation of the Port of Portsmouth in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department has been liaising with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Resilience Forum (LRF) for some time, and has recently shared with them new planning assumptions and analysis of the impact of a no deal Brexit on Portsmouth International Port. It is now for the LRF to consider how this impacts on their Operation Transmission traffic management plan and whether any amendments are required.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2019 to Question 285042 on Large Goods Vehicles: EU Countries, which historic bilateral agreements are (a) most and (b) least likely to be carried over after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The UK has historic agreements with all EU Member States except for Malta (for reasons of geography). It is our view that, in the absence of an EU wide agreement, 21 historic bilateral agreements would revive in full on exit as they have not been expressly terminated. Agreements with Ireland, Denmark, Spain, Belgium and Italy have terminated, but offer a good basis for future discussions.
Some of the revived agreements may need some amendments to make them fit for purpose, which can be done by an exchange of notes between the Parties.
For those agreements that are no longer in force, we would expect to conclude new treaties in the absence of EU-wide arrangements.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria his Department uses to allocate European Council of Ministers for Transport international driving permits to UK road hauliers that have applied for them.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The criteria used for allocating international road haulage permits are set out in the International Road Transport Permits (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/1204) and were designed to deliver on the principles of obtaining the greatest economic benefit from the permits, protecting the interests of UK hauliers, and applying a fair and consistent process.