Written question asked by Greg Knight (Conservative) on Tuesday, 23 January 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 29 January 2007. It was answered by Stephen Ladyman (Labour) on Monday, 29 January 2007 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Container Handling Capacity

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact of container handling capacity shortages at United Kingdom ports on economic growth; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: In May 2006, alongside our discussion document ‘Ports Policy your views invited’, the Department's consultants, MDS Transmodal in association with DTZ Pieda, published a container port transhipment study. This report contains an assessment of the wider economic effects of various capacity scenarios, looking ahead to 2030.Comments were received on this study in response to the discussion document and the ports policy review, currently in progress, is considering the matter further.

Secondary information