Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the pubic purse was of the live trial held on 7 January 2019 of an emergency traffic congestion system to be used in Dover in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
The cost to reimburse hauliers for the operational and time costs and the owners of Manston airfield for site management costs was £60,000-65,000. There will also have been some costs incurred by Kent Police and Kent County Council associated with their staff attending the trial. These and other costs for, if necessary, using Manston to hold HGVs are considered appropriate against the very high economic and traffic congestion associated with closing the M20 if we could not use Manston.