The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) consulted last year on fisheries byelaws to restrict bottom trawling in a further 41 Marine Protected Areas. These proposals are substantial, covering 30,000 square kilometres or 13% of English waters and we must ensure we get them right. The MMO is carefully considering the very large number of responses received to the consultation, and decisions will be made in due course.

Internationally, we remain a leading advocate for ambitious ocean action. We continue to share the lessons we are learning from our UK experience through our membership of key alliances, whilst our scientific expertise, international finance and technical assistance continues to deliver real impact globally.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) consulted last year on fisheries byelaws to restrict bottom trawling in a further 41 Marine Protected Areas. These proposals are substantial, covering 30,000 square kilometres or 13% of English waters and we must ensure we get them right. The MMO is carefully considering the very large number of responses received to the consultation, and decisions will be made in due course.

Internationally, we remain a leading advocate for ambitious ocean action. We continue to share the lessons we are learning from our UK experience through our membership of key alliances, whilst our scientific expertise, international finance and technical assistance continues to deliver real impact globally.

This Government engages closely with businesses across the steel supply chain and will actively monitor implementation of the steel trade measure to ensure it operates as intended and remains responsible to emerging evidence and stakeholder feedback. To date, the department has not been informed that any delays at UK ports are attributed to the introduction of this measure.

We will continue engaging regularly across the supply chain, while working closely with HMRC to ensure effective the implementation and enforcement of the measure.

The Government has committed to reviewing the measure after 12 months to ensure it remains effective and proportionate.

The multimodal UK freight and logistics sector delivers reliable, resilient and efficient movement of goods to support UK business and the consumer. The government recognised the importance of the sector in our Industrial Strategy (2025). We have recently committed £27 billion through the third Road Investment Strategy (2026-2031), including enhancements to the A66 between Penrith and Scotch Corner benefiting east-west freight across the Pennines, including from North and Irish Sea ports, and the Lower Thames Crossing which will improve journey reliability for freight arriving from the EU, including goods using the “land bridge” to Northern Ireland.

On rail the TransPennine Route Upgrade and East West Rail will bring significant freight efficiency benefits and the Railways Bill includes a duty on Great British Railways, ministers and the Office of Road and Rail to promote rail freight. The draft National Planning Policy Framework (published Dec 2025) requires local planning authorities to give “substantial weight” to the economic benefits of proposals for development where this would support improvements in freight and logistics. At a more granular level we are working with the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum to maintain efficient freight flows via the Short Straits through the development of plans to manage the introduction of new import controls and the implementation of EES at the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel.

The Home Office and UK Law Enforcement, particularly Border Force and the National Crime Agency, delivers a significant amount of operational activity to detect and seize illicit drugs being trafficked to the UK and to secure our border. We do not routinely comment on operational deployments or operations.

The Entry/Exit System (EES) is an EU scheme, and its implementation is a matter for the EU and its member states.

In August 2024, the UK Government provided £3.5 million to the three locations with juxtaposed French border controls - the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel at Folkestone and St Pancras International - for additional kiosks and infrastructure to support EES registrations and help keep waiting times to a minimum.

The Government is working closely with the European Commission, member states, local authorities and the travel industry to prepare for EES and to promote flexible solutions for UK travellers. We continue to encourage the maximum use of flexibilities available within legislation to minimise delays. This includes supporting carriers and ports where French border control checks take place before departure from the UK, and engaging the European Commission and member states to encourage a pragmatic approach.

A cross government communications group supports industry in communicating about EES to their customers. This includes providing industry with a toolkit of information and materials to use on their channels. As part of this public awareness campaign running since September 2025, EES messaging has also been shared across government social media channels targeting the British travelling public and through the media. GOV.UK pages also provide information to the public ahead of their journeys.

The Government does not maintain, and does not plan to publish, a single consolidated list of all applicable legislative and statutory requirements. Doing so would be disproportionate and would duplicate information already available through legislation.gov.uk.

The Home Office engages regularly with port operators, shipping companies and wider transport partners to support the security of the UK’s borders and supply chains, including to prevent drug trafficking and the facilitation of illegal migration. This includes ongoing engagement with industry to strengthen security practices, improve information sharing, and support collaboration with law enforcement and international partners.

Carriers also have an important role to play in protecting the integrity of the border. Through measures such as the Authority to Carry scheme, the Government works with carriers to prevent individuals who may pose an immigration or security risk from travelling to the UK.

The Government keeps its approach to tackling organised criminality in ports, logistics networks and transport routes under review. We work closely with operational partners and international counterparts to monitor threats, including the risk of organised criminal infiltration and the exploitation of services by organised crime groups, and to disrupt illicit activity through intelligence sharing and joint working.

The Home Office engages regularly with port operators, shipping companies and wider transport partners to support the security of the UK’s borders and supply chains, including to prevent drug trafficking and the facilitation of illegal migration. This includes ongoing engagement with industry to strengthen security practices, improve information sharing, and support collaboration with law enforcement and international partners.

Carriers also have an important role to play in protecting the integrity of the border. Through measures such as the Authority to Carry scheme, the Government works with carriers to prevent individuals who may pose an immigration or security risk from travelling to the UK.

The Government keeps its approach to tackling organised criminality in ports, logistics networks and transport routes under review. We work closely with operational partners and international counterparts to monitor threats, including the risk of organised criminal infiltration and the exploitation of services by organised crime groups, and to disrupt illicit activity through intelligence sharing and joint working.

Ports are essential to economic growth for the United Kingdom as a trading nation, over 85% of whose international trade moves by sea. They are instrumental in promoting the skills necessary for modern logistics, with support from the sector's Port Skills & Safety body. They generate and sustain employment directly and indirectly, on-port and in their hinterland, with a high proportion of workers resident in coastal communities.

Ports rely on resilient, reliable connections and Government plays an important role in bettering these connections to drive economic growth. In March 2026, the Government announced over £27 billion of investment in the Strategic Road Network through the third Road Investment Strategy, this includes a further £1.66 billion to deliver the publicly-funded works on the Lower Thames Crossing, which will provide a significant boost to the UK economy, strengthening connectivity across the UK and to major ports.

Government is aware of the importance of efficient road and rail connections to enable ports to be effective gateways for trade and handle increasing volumes of freight. The Government is delivering major projects to provide a step change in port connectivity, with the Lower Thames Crossing in the South and Trans Pennine Route Upgrade in the North. In March 2026, the Government announced over £27 billion of investment in the Strategic Road Network through the third Road Investment Strategy, which includes a new performance metric for National Highways to reduce delays on gateway routes. In addition, Great British Railways will work to improve rail access with an overall target of a 75% increase in rail freight moved by 2050.

The Government is aware of capacity constraints on the transport infrastructure connecting ports in the Thames region and is working to improve them. This includes delivering the Lower Thames Crossing, the most significant road building project in a generation. The new crossing will reduce congestion at Dartford, better linking up motorists and businesses in the Midlands and North with key ports in the South East, and spreading growth throughout the regions. In addition, Network Rail is delivering feasibility studies on level crossing mitigations at East Tilbury, Rainham, and Grays, as well as progressing a business case development on cross-London lines, recognising the existing capacity challenges in the region.