Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) veracity and (b) implications for his policies of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Resilience Forum estimate that 480 lorries will be queuing outside naval bases in Portsmouth in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal included in its response to his correspondence of 23 September 2020.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has made its own estimates of the potential for disruption around key ports at the end of the transition period. In the case of Portsmouth Port the DfT estimates suggest that even under a reasonable worst case scenario queues of HGVs attempting to enter Portsmouth Port would be considerably lower than the 480 referenced in the question. Nevertheless, there remains a risk of disruption at several ports, including Portsmouth, at the end of transition period. The Department for Transport is working closely with Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) across the country, including the Hampshire and Isle of Wight LRF, as they develop locally appropriate plans to manage any potential disruption.