It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The aim of the Port Infrastructure Resilience and Connectivity (PIRC) Fund is to secure, by way of a grant, investment in English maritime ports that improves the resilience of the relevant ports to handle potential disruption from a no deal EU exit on 31 October, and also enhance ports’ resilience capabilities to maximise post-EU exit trade opportunities.

The bids received from ports for grants from the Fund were carefully assessed by officials at the Department for Transport and technical advisers against the following pre-determined criteria:

• Delivery date of the project

• Capacity & capability to be delivered

• Project deliverability & cost

• Longer term resilience benefits.

The 16 bids that performed best against these criteria were duly selected for grant funding, as announced by the Secretary of State on 26 September.

The bid assessment process should ensure that bids selected represent value for money. Further, the Department will now be monitoring successful bidders under the terms of grant agreements to make sure that the projects are delivered on time and on budget, so that grants are spent effectively and appropriately. Grants will only be paid in arrears following evidence that the work has been completed. Further, as per best practice for HMG grants, a review will be carried out at an appropriate time to assess the benefits of the scheme.

The aim of the Port Infrastructure Resilience and Connectivity (PIRC) Fund is to secure, by way of a grant, investment in English maritime ports that improves the resilience of the relevant ports to handle potential disruption from a no deal EU exit on 31 October, and also enhance ports’ resilience capabilities to maximise post-EU exit trade opportunities.

The bids received from ports for grants from the Fund were carefully assessed by officials at the Department for Transport and technical advisers against the following pre-determined criteria:

• Delivery date of the project

• Capacity & capability to be delivered

• Project deliverability & cost

• Longer term resilience benefits.

The 16 bids that performed best against these criteria were duly selected for grant funding, as announced by the Secretary of State on 26 September.

The bid assessment process should ensure that bids selected represent value for money. Further, the Department will now be monitoring successful bidders under the terms of grant agreements to make sure that the projects are delivered on time and on budget, so that grants are spent effectively and appropriately. Grants will only be paid in arrears following evidence that the work has been completed. Further, as per best practice for HMG grants, a review will be carried out at an appropriate time to assess the benefits of the scheme.

It was announced on 26 September that sixteen ports across England will receive a share of a multimillion-pound funding pot to help their preparations for Brexit on 31 October and beyond. The successful bidders of the £10 million Port Infrastructure Resilience and Connectivity (PIRC) competition offers ports up to £1 million each to deliver important infrastructure upgrades to help keep traffic and trade flowing smoothly across the border.

The fund is part of a wider £30 million government package to support ports across England to operate efficiently post-Brexit of which DfT is providing up to £5 million to four Local Resilience Forums (LRF) outside Kent with the highest volumes of accompanied road freight traffic with EU ports. A further £15 million will go towards the development of longer-term projects to boost road and rail links to ports.

It is for the relevant LRFs to consider how this impacts on port infrastructure and local traffic management plans. DfT will continue to support this work.

The Department for Transport has put in place £30M of funding for ports, Local Resilience Forums, and road & rail links.

Financial support is provided for sixteen ports across England who will receive a share of funding to help their preparations for Brexit on 31 October and beyond. The successful bidders of the £10m Port Infrastructure Resilience and Connectivity (PIRC) competition offers ports up to £1m each to deliver important infrastructure upgrades to help keep traffic and trade flowing smoothly across the border.

The fund PIRC is part of a wider £30m government package to support ports across England to operate efficiently post-Brexit. DfT is providing up to £5m to four Local Resilience Forums (LRF) outside Kent with the highest volumes of accompanied road freight traffic with EU ports. A further £15m will go towards the development of longer-term projects to boost road and rail links to ports.

Arrangements and support for Port Health and border operations are a matter for the responsible Government Departments.

The Department has been liaising with ports and local partners on Brexit preparedness, for some time. In Kent, along with Highways England and other partners, the Department has been working closely to develop Operation Brock, which is intended to provide the resilience and flexibility required to deal with any disruption to cross-Channel travel from Kent ports. As well as keeping freight moving through our ports, the contingency measures of Operation Brock are designed to keep Kent’s road network moving for local people, businesses and visitors.

The Department has also engaged closely with localities outside Kent, and has recently shared revised analysis of the potential impact of a no deal Brexit on key ports with the Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) in Humber, Hampshire and Isle of Wight, Merseyside, Lancashire, Essex and North Wales. It is now for those LRFs to consider how this impacts on their traffic management contingency plans and whether any amendments are required.

Exporters are required to have certified Export Health Certificates before goods leave the approved premises, therefore we do not anticipate any need for additional certifying officers at UK borders.

To date, over 1000 vets are registered as official veterinarians that can certify Export Health Certificates – an increase of around 60% since February 2019. We have put in place a number of measures to increase certifier capacity, including introducing a new certification support officer role to assist certifiers in collating the evidence needed, as well as providing free training for vets.

Routine scheduled repair and refitting of the two Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carriers, other than dry-docking, will be undertaken at Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth.

Plans for a long-term in-service support solution are under consideration as part of the Common Support Model for complex warships. Whilst no decisions have been made, we anticipate that dry-docking periods will be put out to competitive tender if the market for such work exists, in line with Departmental policy. The costs of dry docking QEC aircraft carriers have been benchmarked in competition to ensure value for money through negotiation with suppliers if no market for competition is forthcoming.

It is currently too early for any formal engagement with industry on these matters, but the following dry-dock facilities in the UK are of a sufficient size to accommodate the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers:

Able UK, Seaton Port, Teeside; Babcock, Rosyth; Cammell Laird, Birkenhead; Cammell Laird, Greenock (Inchgreen); Harland and Wolff, Belfast.

Routine scheduled repair and refitting of the two Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carriers, other than dry-docking, will be undertaken at Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth.

Plans for a long-term in-service support solution are under consideration as part of the Common Support Model for complex warships. Whilst no decisions have been made, we anticipate that dry-docking periods will be put out to competitive tender if the market for such work exists, in line with Departmental policy. The costs of dry docking QEC aircraft carriers have been benchmarked in competition to ensure value for money through negotiation with suppliers if no market for competition is forthcoming.

It is currently too early for any formal engagement with industry on these matters, but the following dry-dock facilities in the UK are of a sufficient size to accommodate the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers:

Able UK, Seaton Port, Teeside; Babcock, Rosyth; Cammell Laird, Birkenhead; Cammell Laird, Greenock (Inchgreen); Harland and Wolff, Belfast.

The Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2019 (REPPIR) place a statutory duty on Plymouth City Council (PCC) to prepare and test an off-site emergency plan for the Devonport site. Previous tests of the off-site plan have been conducted during Exercise Short Sermon, with the frequency and timing of the exercise being agreed between PCC, the Ministry of Defence and Devonport Royal Dockyard Limited.

The next test of these arrangements will be conducted by PCC during Exercise Short Sermon 19, to be held on 12 September, and the Devonport site operations will continue to agree future test dates with PCC in accordance with REPPIR requirements.

We are confident that there are no significant safety or environmental concerns (radiological or conventional) with the current storage processes. All laid-up submarines at the Rosyth and Devonport Dockyards undergo regular inspection and maintenance to comply with the very highest safety and environmental standards. This includes continual monitoring, annual surveys and periodic docking for re-preservation of the hulls. All aspects of afloat storage, including potential environmental impacts and radiological safety, are regulated by the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator.

On 30 August, the Secretary of State for Transport announced the £10M Port Infrastructure Resilience and Connectivity (PIRC) fund with the intention of supporting Brexit resilience preparations at English ports. Ports in the South West will be eligible to apply for PIRC funding, and any bid will be subject to a competitive assessment process against applications from other ports.

The Government has worked closely with the Kent Resilience Forum to ensure that traffic can continue to flow for the cross-channel ports in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on the 31st October. A new plan, Operating BROCK, has been developed to keep the M20 open if there are any delays resulting from disruption at the border. There are also extensive plans to ensure that traders and hauliers are border ready which should mitigate and minimise disruption at all ports.

Rail freight and ports are intrinsically linked, with most of the UK’s major ports using rail for onwards distribution. Rail moves 1 in 4 of all intermodal shipping containers which are imported or exported and 18 ports in England have a direct and active rail connection to the national network, with a further 6 ports having operational rail connections (but no current timetabled freight trains).

Intermodal freight is now the biggest rail freight sector and the Department and Network Rail welcome discussions with port operators that wish to enhance their rail freight provision, particularly for container traffic.

The Department has recently announced a £30M fund for port infrastructure connectivity in England – this includes potential funding for development of rail connectivity (specific schemes yet to be determined).

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The UK tracks Yemen’s imports and ports to monitor trends and predict pressure points in humanitarian supplies.

Although Aden port remains operational, we are concerned by a backlog of 15,000 containers waiting to be processed. Fighting across the south of the country has also closed many major overland routes, affecting the onward delivery of commercial goods and humanitarian services.

The UK regularly raises humanitarian concerns with all parties to the conflict, calling on them to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2451 and to facilitate safe, rapid and unhindered access for humanitarian and commercial supplies, including through Aden port and onward movement across the country.