£30m to minimise post-Brexit port disruption

The Department for Transport has allocated £30 million to help ports improve capacity and maintain trade flow after Brexit.

Ports will be able to bid for a share of £10m, while the other £20m will be divided between four Local Resilience Forums (made up of emergency responders, councils and other public services) in areas with important freight ports.

There will be a further £15m made available to fund longer-term projects to boost road and rail links to ports and ensure more freight can get where it needs to be faster.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “We are leaving the EU on 31 October and we will be prepared whatever the circumstances.”

The Road Haulage Association welcome the funding. “Of course we welcome government’s commitment to making ports Brexit ready,” said chief executive Richard Burnett. “But as with all infrastructure improvements they take time and that is a commodity that we do not have.

“Our concerns are much more immediate. There is still a lack of clarity as regards the paperwork and processes needed to maintain free-flowing traffic. If one haulier is found to have incorrect documents then the knock-on effects will be catastrophic. No amount of infrastructure improvements will be able to cope with tailbacks of traffic resulting from one truck having incorrect or missing paperwork.”