Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how they plan to check and verify documentation for 'Kent access permits' for the purpose of (1) assisting ports in allocating slots, and (2) understanding which cargoes need inspection.

The purpose of the Kent Access Permit (KAP) is to minimise the number of HGVs travelling to the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel without the correct export documentation and thus, mitigate against any disruption those ‘unready’ HGVs would cause. The KAP is obtained from the Check an HGV is Ready to Cross the Border service, where a driver or haulier must check they have the right documentation before proceeding to the ports. The Check an HGV service has not been designed to integrate with the ports operations to allocate tickets and does not link into other Government databases to inform which cargoes need inspection.

In Kent, the Check an HGV service database will be used by DVSA enforcement officials and Kent Police in conjunction with Automatic Number Plate Recognition to check whether EU bound HGVs have a valid KAP. Should it be required, a similar process will take place at the HGV holding sites in Kent using the Check an HGV Operator Application to scan vehicles number plates to check for the presence of a KAP.