Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 24 July (HL6859), how much they have spent on preparations for the provision of additional lorry parking capacity at Manston Airport.
I can confirm that between August 2015 to June 2020, the Department for Transport (DfT) has paid a total of £19.4m for the use of Manston Airfield as a lorry park. DfT paid £10.3m as part of the EU Exit no deal preparation contingency planning and £9.1m for the use of Manston Airfield for business as usual and Operation Stack. This has enabled DfT to use Manston Airfield to hold HGVs for traffic management purposes, in the event of disruption of flow at the short straits crossings.