Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they have spent or committed, in staff and consultant costs, on work related to (1) their contract with Seaborne Freight, and (2) the dredging of Ramsgate harbour.

The contract awarded to Seaborne was part of a broader procurement exercise to secure additional freight capacity after Brexit, wherein nine companies were approached and contracts were awarded to three. Due to the complexity of disaggregating the data from related contingency planning, the precise staff and consultancy time involved with Seaborne, and associated discussions on Ramsgate dredging, could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.