Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the construction timeframe for the new lorry parks set to be built in 29 council areas across the UK as part of new customs infrastructure.

I am responding to this question as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport.

The inclusion of a local authority within the Special Development Order does not necessarily indicate that a temporary inland border facility will be required in that area.

The local authority areas have been identified within the Order by the border departments so that should inland border facilities be required to support relevant ports, these can be provided within a reasonable distance of a port and/or strategic highway network.

The location of any new inland sites will be determined by what ports are able to build. The Government is continuing its discussions with ports to establish the extent of new infrastructure capacity at ports and if an inland site will be needed. Further information on inland sites will be shared once available at the earliest opportunity.