Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in the last six months to make it easier for railways to replace trips made by Heavy Goods Vehicles.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Government remains committed to unlocking the benefits rail freight can deliver, including its role in supporting resilient supply chains. Working alongside Network Rail (NR) and Freight Operating Companies (FOCs), we have taken several urgent steps to increase rail freight capacity to help reduce pressure on HGV driver shortages over the last six months.
NR has recently increased the number of train paths available from Felixstowe Port by addressing level crossing risks and made additional paths available from Liverpool Port and London Gateway. NR and FOCs are currently running longer and heavier freight trains, and we are exploring with them whether there is scope to increase this to ensure that capacity is maximised, as well as increase the flow of rail freight on key routes from major ports. Work remains ongoing to secure further opportunities for this.
Furthermore, the £8.3 million upgrade of the ‘Bootle Branch’ railway line serving the Port of Liverpool was completed in September 2021. The 400-metre section of track will allow for an increase from one, to two trains, per hour in each direction.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions and meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have held with Hutchison Group on delays to shipments at Felixstowe port.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There have been no such discussions or meetings.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the announcement that DP World will operate 775-metre long freight trains between Southampton and London Gateway, whether they have asked Network Rail to make similar adjustments elsewhere in the interests of higher productivity.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government supports increasing the productivity of the rail freight sector, including by investing in infrastructure enhancements to enable Freight Operating Companies to run longer trains, to enhance rail freight’s competitiveness and in turn lead to modal shift of freight from road to rail, delivering significant environmental and economic benefits.
Between 2014-2019 the Government invested over £235 million in the Strategic Freight Network and continues to make investments, to improve its capability and capacity for freight users, including facilitating longer freight trains. In addition to the longer services operating from the Port of Southampton, as a result of the recently completed Southampton Freight Train Lengthening project, the Department has also funded several infrastructure enhancements which have enabled other longer services to operate. These include upgrading the Ipswich Railway Chords (Bacon Factory Curve) to allow 700m length freight trains to run to and from the Port of Felixstowe and the extension of the Darlington sidings, which concluded in December 2020, to allow longer intermodal freight trains to operate from Teesport to access the East Coast Mainline.
Furthermore, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Network Rail (NR) has worked alongside the rail freight industry, with the support of the Department, to allow longer and heavier trains to run on the network whilst the number of passenger services has been lower. As a result of the reduced passenger timetable, NR implemented a number of timetable alterations to allow, for example, 775m trains to run between Southampton and Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester, and between Daventry and Grangemouth. NR is actively looking at opportunities to continue scheduling such services and to further opportunities to run longer trains, to continue driving higher efficiency and productivity for the Freight Operating Companies and their customers.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the reasons for (a) congestion and (b) delays at Felixstowe docks.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The last quarter of 2020 saw an unprecedented global demand surge for container freight, with shipping lines and ports worldwide handling volumes in excess of usual peak capacities and duration.
This is not an issue unique to Felixstowe, or UK ports, but is being experienced at many locations internationally.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to clear the backlog of containers being used to store PPE at the Port of Felixstowe and remove that PPE to warehouse storage and free the containers to be returned to destination to carry further supplies.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have cleared the backlog of containers containing personal protective equipment at Felixstowe and are now managing the expected flow of containers that continue to arrive.
Our United Kingdom storage network is comprised of warehousing environments and off-quay container storage facilities combined with rental containers, all of which are being utilised to enable the release of containers back to the shipping lines.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of potential (a) increased haulage costs and (b) disruption at the port of Felixstowe on UK food supplies after the transition period.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Haulage firms operate on a commercial basis with the food industry. The haulage business model approaches pricing with consideration from a supply versus demand position. Changes in operation from 1 January may increase road haulage costs in the short-term for the food industry.
Current disruption at the port of Felixstowe is due to global supply chain pressures rather than our trading relationship with the EU. The food industry is resilient and alternative routes are available. Although there may be some impact to shelf-life of ambient food products, there has not been any evidence to suggest shortages as a result of this global shipping situation. We will continue to monitor impact on food supply as a result of disruption.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to clear the backlog of containers at the port of Felixstowe.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government is liaising closely with the Port of Felixstowe, but also other UK ports, and international shipping lines on their response to the current global container demand surge. Ports are working hard to handle volumes of freight significantly in excess of normal peaks and under challenging Covid-19 operational circumstances. Whilst this is predominantly a commercial issue, Government is taking action to reduce supply chain pressures, for example a temporary relaxation of HGV drivers rules and we acted to remove the majority of PPE containers from Felixstowe.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate she has made of changes in costs for (a) importers and (b) exporters during 2020 as a result of staff at Felixstowe being furloughed through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The Secretary of State for Transport and his officials have actively engaged the Port of Felixstowe to understand the global challenge of a global peak in container traffic, so my department has not made such an estimate. Accordingly, I can assure the Hon. Gentleman that HM Government is continuing to monitor the situation, and is engaged with relevant freight trade associations.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to urgently help resolve the delays at Felixstowe port.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Officials and I have actively engaged with the Port of Felixstowe, the port sector, and wider freight sectors, to understand the challenge of a global peak in container traffic, and the steps they are taking to address the demand surge impacts in the UK.
We will continue to monitor the situation, including convening a meeting of all relevant freight trade associations, to encourage all parties to work collaboratively to take the steps needed to resolve any remaining challenges.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to provide financial support to East Suffolk District Council to employ additional port health officers at Felixstowe port in the event that the UK and the EU do not reach agreement on their future relationship after the transition period.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Border Operating Model, published on 13 July and updated on 8 October, sets out the new systems and processes required to deliver sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls for goods imported from the EU. These will be introduced in a phased approach from January 2021 to July 2021.
Under this approach, port health authorities (PHAs) will not be required to carry out any new SPS checks on EU goods until 1 April 2021. Defra is working with PHAs across England, including Felixstowe, to ensure recruitment and training of the additional staff required is completed in time.
Defra recently launched a fund to assist PHAs, which will be administered as grants provided under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003 to local authorities in England. The fund closed for applications on 13 September 2020 and we are currently assessing the bids.