Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for more toilets in Kent for lorry drivers due to potential congestion post-Brexit, and whether they have assessed how many lorries could be caught up in any such delays.

We published our revised reasonable worst-case scenario planning assumptions on 23 September for the end of the Transition Period. Such a scenario could lead to queues of up to 7,000 HGVs in Kent. We are working with the Kent Resilience Forum to maintain traffic flow and to mitigate the effects of any disruption that occurs. This includes additional holding capacity for HGVs in Kent.

The Kent Resilience Forum’s preparations include a Driver Welfare plan that will provide reasonable and proportionate distribution of welfare to both passenger and freight traffic during significant congestion. It covers the deployment of food, water, medicine, warmth and sanitation. This can be adjusted to respond to different levels of congestion. This will benefit from the Forum’s experience of previous incidents where there has been congestion in Kent as a result of delays in crossings of the Short Straits.

Our delivery plans ensure that all Inland Border Facilities will have adequate toilet facilities for drivers and any driver companions to use, including accessible and children toilets.