Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce congestion of lorries going to the port of Dover after the UK leaves the EU.

The Government remains focused on ensuring the UK’s smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU with a deal as soon as possible. As a responsible government, we’ve been preparing to minimise any disruption in the event of no deal for over two years.

The Department for Transport has worked closely with the Kent Resilience Forum on developing plans, also known as Operation Brock, to be used as a contingency in the event of cross-Channel travel disruption at the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel, whatever the cause.

Operation Brock has been designed to ensure that the M20 will be kept open and traffic will continue to flow in both directions. It consists of three phases: a contraflow queuing system on the M20, between Junctions 8 and 9; temporary holding areas at Manston Airfield for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) heading to Europe via the Port of Dover; and, if necessary, temporary holding areas on the M26 (Brock M26) for HGVs heading to Europe via Eurotunnel. The M20 contraflow element will allow non-port traffic to continue to use the M20 in both directions when HGVs are stored on the coast-bound carriageway.

The Government has also been taking steps to minimise the number of hauliers and other vehicles arriving at Dover and Eurotunnel without the essential documentation for EU border controls in a no deal scenario. This should help to reduce the risk of significant disruption at ports and on the Kent road network from the introduction of new EU customs processes.