Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) FTE civil servants and (b) lawyers worked on the Seaborne Freight contract during the (i) due diligence, (ii) contract management and (iii) contract cancellation processes.

The contract awarded to Seaborne was part of a broader procurement exercise to secure additional freight capacity after Brexit, wherein nine companies were approached and contracts were awarded to three. The precise staff time involved could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.