Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Transport on the welfare of horses in the event that their travel is delayed by queues at the border after 1 January 2021.

My Department liaises with the Department for Transport on the welfare of animals as part of traffic management discussions in the event that their travel is delayed by queues at the border now that the transition period has ended. Equines are not covered under the prioritisation of goods contingency, as set out in the relevant legislation [HCVs in Kent (No.3) Order 2019]. Advice has been given, and will continue to be given, to the industry for those transporting equines not to travel through Kent; and where they do travel, to use a vehicle less than 7.5 tons which will enable them to use the Brock contraflow in the event of significant traffic disruption. Where a vehicle over 7.5 tons ignores that advice and does join the Brock queue and where any delay occurs that results in animal welfare issues, then in these extreme and individual circumstances it would be an operational matter for Kent Police to allow them to be extracted and to join the contra-flow.