Town and Country Planning (Border Facilities and Infrastructure) (EU Exit) (England) Special Development Order 2020 (SI 2020/928)

Motion to Regret

Moved by

That this House regrets that the Town and Country Planning (Border Facilities and Infrastructure) (EU Exit) (England) Special Development Order 2020 (SI 2020/928) will have considerable implications for the haulage industry and the local areas that these measures will affect, and regrets that the failure of Her Majesty’s Government to prepare for Brexit has required these measures to be implemented. Special attention drawn to the instrument by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, 26th Report

My Lords, I make it clear that I in no way question the need for the proposed border facilities to take pressure off some of our ports. Many port sites are too congested to process the number of vehicles they deal with, now that border checks are so much more complex. Unfortunately, in keeping within the strange time warp within which we now operate in this House, we are debating something that is already in force. However, the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee drew our attention to it in September.

I am moving this regret Motion to question the use of the special development order as the procedure of choice for the Government. It is apparently only the second time, since its introduction in 1990, that this procedure has been used—in this case, to grant temporary planning permission until 2025. The process allows the Government, in the form of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, to give themselves planning permission, applied for by the so-called border departments. There is no statutory obligation to consult the public.

I ask the Minister for some explanation of why so little was done by the Government until it was too late to provide satisfactory democratic accountability for the siting of border facilities. Not surprisingly, local residents are concerned about traffic congestion, environmental and noise impacts, air quality and more. I ask why the haulage industry does not yet have the support and facilities it urgently requires, because inland lorry parks are needed to provide food, toilets and rest facilities for drivers.

In 2016, the UK voted to leave the EU. In January 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May made it clear that the UK would not remain in the single market and customs union. From that point onwards, the negotiations were only ever going to make a marginal difference to the complexities of doing business with the EU. Time and again, the Government were warned, by hauliers, haulage representatives and exporters, of the need for early preparation. Therefore, I find the repeated pleas of urgency in the Explanatory Memorandum completely unacceptable. The Government have had four and a half years to prepare for Brexit; it is no good shouting “emergency” now.

My Lords, I am pleased to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, in speaking about this Motion.

I have had a lot of communication from the site that the noble Baroness mentioned in Guston near Dover, which I know quite well because I spent 15 years building the Channel Tunnel just next door to it. I am as astonished as she is that the Government do not seem to be following even their own pretty flawed regulations for this so-called emergency. I am particularly interested to look at the Explanatory Memorandum that comes with this draft regulation—well, it is not a draft any more—because, as the noble Baroness said, the Government have had four years to think about this and plan for it, yet the first that the residents heard of it was on New Year’s Eve.

The first thing I shall mention is that paragraph 7.7 of the Explanatory Memorandum states:

“The SSHCLG’s approval must be sought”—

it clearly has been sought—

“and given before the development of a specific site can start.”

It also states that evidence needs to be submitted for why a site is necessary and why it is the right site and that there needs to be an environmental study, as the noble Baroness said, and a construction management plan.

Can the Minister confirm that, before CLG gave approval, all this documentation had been prepared and submitted to it? Will she say when it was submitted and why the local residents, the local parish council and others did not receive a copy of that documentation? Will she put all this documentation in the Library of the House so at least we can see it, albeit retrospectively?

One of the most important things is—why Guston? My understanding from a long time ago until now is that the most important, first-priority route for trucks going to or from the Channel Tunnel or the port of Dover is the M20. As we all know, one or probably two sites have been designated and are apparently in use. Ministers told us only last week that there were no more traffic jams at Dover, so it is interesting that they have suddenly decided that they need to have a third site on the A2, which is partly single carriageway. Why is it needed there? The consultation with the stakeholders clearly did not have any effect on the residents, but the port of Dover was consulted and I understand that it suggested an alternative site further up the road. Will the Minister explain why that site was rejected and on what grounds?

My Lords, in speaking to this order, I express delight that I am following the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, as he and I worked together, cross-party, on a number of issues.

I find myself in a dilemma today. I support all that the Government are doing to try to ease the adjustments and complexities of Brexit. They are right to speed up the planning process to provide for border-control measures and to provide for associated facilities and infrastructure. They have been preparing for some time, as I recall concerns expressed two years ago by the horticultural industry that the portaloos that it hires for their farm workers each year had been appropriated.

It was good to hear from the Minister earlier today that traffic is flowing freely, that only 2% to 3% of lorries have been turned back in Kent and that most relate to Covid tests or paperwork issues of their own making. I thank her for her courtesy. We both have links to Wiltshire, of course—she to Bybrook and I to Chilmark—and she has had a distinguished career in local government. I noted that representatives of Logistics UK told the EU Sub-Committee earlier this week that, in the experience of its members, delays have been relatively few and isolated in respect of specific sectors and routes. That is more promising than the prophets of doom expected.

On the other hand, as with so much to do with government at present, I am not happy about the lack of opportunity for scrutiny of this instrument. This measure, which, if badly managed, could have a profound effect on individual citizens and communities, was made as long ago as 3 September 2020 and came into effect on 24 September. Seven facilities have been approved, and I believe that a more controversial one near the historic white cliffs of Dover—already mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, and the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley—may be in the pipeline. This SI was drawn to the attention of the House by our excellent scrutiny committee on 17 September. It is now 11 February, nearly five months later. I am shocked by this. In that time, we have debated many less important measures and on many days the Grand Committee Room has been empty.

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, for the way in which she introduced her regret Motion. I support what she said. I am deeply unhappy with this order. I declare an interest: I have a house midway between the Ashford and proposed Dover sites.

I listened with interest to the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, who always has something new and interesting to say. However, I am puzzled that, two years ago, the Government were snapping up Portaloos—presumably for these intended lorry tailbacks —yet did not at that stage think about seeking permission for the sites on which they might be used more permanently. I therefore wonder whether the Minister can explain when she comes to wind up why it was so late in the day that the Government decided to seek these emergency powers and go ahead with building parks that it was quite obvious would be required since we were leaving the single market.

It is clear that trade is significantly down at the moment. If that remains the case, presumably we will not need anywhere near the amount of provision currently being sought. So, what are the Minister’s projections, or those of her department, of how many of these sites will be required? That might give us an indication of how optimistic the Government are about the future of British exports.

Like other speakers, I am particularly concerned about the lack of consultation and the areas in which these lorry parks are being housed. Noble Lords have referred to Guston. Apart from having a port, Dover is a great tourist attraction because of its magnificent and extraordinarily well-managed castle; I recommend paying a visit to anyone who has not been there. However, it is short on car parks and facilities. If there were to be provision in the neighbourhood for extra car parking, it would be useful to see that accommodated more sensitively than what is currently proposed: a huge lorry park on the A2, where, as others have said, there is only single-lane traffic in some places. There is already deep concern in Ashford that if traffic builds up to the level it was before Brexit, there could be tailbacks, making it extremely difficult for the emergency services to get through. Local communities are really concerned about that.

My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Wheatcroft, and to listen to her fight on behalf of the villages around where she lives in Kent. Perhaps I can move a little further north.

Prior to 1 January, Holyhead port carried 1,200 lorries a day, inbound and outbound. The consequences of the ending of the transitional period are that traffic has been reduced by 50% at present, and that Stena Line has moved one of its ships to the Dublin to Cherbourg service. The Government say that this fall-off is temporary only—teething troubles—and that we can shortly expect the transit of lorries to resume its previous volume.

Meanwhile, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Warrington South has said that the proposed Appleton Thorn inland border control point will deal with 350 lorries per day, inbound and outbound, with only 69 parking spaces available on the site. He pooh-poohs concerns voiced by the local Liberal Democrat councillors, Judith Wheeler and Sharon Harris, that figures previously released suggested 700 vehicles per day using this facility and that they would use Barleycastle Lane for access, which is not wide enough for two lorries to pass each other.

Given the normal flow at Holyhead of 1,200 vehicles and trailers a day, how can this site cope with the expected traffic? Do some of these lorries simply disappear into the wilds of north-west Wales? The proposed site to deal with Holyhead-Ireland traffic is more than 100 miles and a two-hour drive away from Holyhead. Where, incidentally, is the traffic from Northern Ireland to Liverpool to be dealt with?

I am a frequent traveller in the proposed area since Appleton Thorn lies on the route from north Wales into Manchester and is at the junction between the M56 and the M6, if you are going north to Scotland. I know only too well that the junction of the Liverpool-Manchester motorway, only two motorway exits further on over the Warrington viaduct, is an area which frequently snarls up. I am an expert on the rat-runs around that junction. Perhaps that is why the site chosen has been deserted by the large Shearings coach company. I cannot expect the Minister today to pass any opinion on the suitability of the site, but I would welcome a definitive undertaking to provide up-to-date information on what the current travel figures from and to Holyhead, and those forecast for the future, are. That is the sort of information a proper planning application would provide. I also want a definitive statement on the expected capacity and use of the Appleton Thorn site.

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford. I share many of his interests in protecting Holyhead and other Welsh ports. I too thank the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, for setting out the issues as clearly as she did and, once again, highlighting some of the problems that are being experienced, and will be experienced, by ports in Wales.

The background to the order is clear, and I do not deny that there will be a need for such sites as we are being asked to approve the designation of. I am less clear on how this need only recently made itself obvious. We have this need even though we have an agreed EU exit and an agreement at the end of transition period. If we need these processing centres and holding bays under benign circumstances, then a fortiori we would have needed them without agreements also. I am not clear why this need has become urgent so recently, because it should have been obvious earlier. I would welcome some explanation of that from my noble friend the Minister. It may be that there is a perfectly simple explanation, though it is not clear to me. That is the prime question I have: why were these centres not planned for longer in advance?

Like others, I think that the usual planning procedures, with their democratic checks and balances and controls, are something that we should normally follow. Like my noble friend Lady Neville-Rolfe, I cannot understand why these procedures are needed until the end of 2025. That does not seem very temporary. If we have an urgent need now, does that continue for another four years? I cannot understand why we are not able to revert to normal planning procedures once the immediate urgency, which is apparent, has passed. As I have indicated, I am certainly not against the provision of sites and the need for that is clearly there, but I have some further questions for my noble friend.

The affected local authorities are listed in a schedule to the order—I think there are 29. I am not quite clear on why some authorities are in the list and others are not. The list includes, for example, Devon but not Cornwall, Somerset but not Gloucestershire and Essex but not Hertfordshire. I would welcome guidance from the Minister on the basis on which these local authorities were listed. What discussions have there been with the local authorities concerned about the listing and what can be expected? Is it to be expected that all 29 authorities may have holding bays placed in them?

Many Members of this House came into politics through local government. Their motivation was to make things better for local communities, usually through improvements in local services. It was my motivation. There was always a problem with funding, but real choices and compromises had to be made. For some years, funding for local government has been systematically reduced and the statutory duties which must be met have increased. This has reduced the attractiveness of becoming a local elected representative, as all you do is make unpalatable cuts or apologise for the inevitable reductions in local services. This causes experienced councillors to resign and less good candidates to put themselves forward.

On top of this bleak scenario, there is an increasing tendency towards centralising power and decision-making and towards central government setting aside the established means of checking the abuse of such powers. Before turning to the matter before the House today, I will point out the democratic deficit that is emerging in my home county of Oxfordshire. There have been some extraordinary examples over the last year, where decisions on Oxfordshire’s life and environment are being taken by unelected, unaccountable and remote bodies.

Perhaps the most notable example of this is when the Secretary of State Robert Jenrick intervened in South Oxfordshire, where a newly elected Administration was forbidden to take forward its local plan and where he ordered their officers to put forward a plan prepared by the previous Conservative Administration—a process described by the Oxford Mail as

“an extraordinary affront to local democracy”.

I now turn to my latest example of the pushing aside of local democracy. It has been proposed that a substantial number of large lorry parks be created under special development orders, to be sited around the country, adjacent to ports and motorways, for lorries awaiting processing through the new customs clearance arrangements arising from the decision to leave the European Union. The Government either did not foresee the need for such facilities or were not very keen to explain the likely consequences of our decision to leave the EU. The local authorities covering the areas subject to the special development orders are not able to mount any meaningful protest about the establishment of the proposed lorry parks. While provision is made in the special development orders for the eventual dismantling of a site, there is also provision to extend their use.

My Lords, I am delighted to follow the noble Lord, who speaks with such knowledge on these issues. I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, for her presentation of the key issues here, many of which I agree with. I declare my interest as an honorary president of the United Kingdom Warehousing Association. I approach this issue from a northern perspective, and I ask my noble friend in particular about why Teesport, for example, does not seem to be included here? The local authority representing that area is not in the list in Schedule 1, despite obviously being a major port.

Throughout the year, I meet a number of local businesses, particularly in north Yorkshire, two of which have a background in cold storage, logistics and distribution. I would like to share with the Minister that they have impressed on me the clear need for greater prioritisation and use of these northern ports. I am thinking in particular of Immingham, which now has three berths, because it has reclaimed a number of them; there is extra capacity at Hull, because we have sadly lost the passenger route between there and Zeebrugge; and I would also add Teesport to these, as it is not too far away. To what extent can we develop and use the extra capacity, and build on the existing capacity, at these northern ports? That would ease the bottlenecks that we have seen so clearly at the southern ports, as identified by my noble friend Lady Wheatcroft, who lives in Kent.

The other sad thing to record is the closure of a lobster and crab firm, Baron Shellfish of Bridlington, which had been exporting live lobsters and crabs to Europe, most particularly Spain and France, since we entered the Common Market, and has ceased trading. It claims that one of the reasons for this is the forms and extra bureaucratic and administrative barriers in place since 1 January. To what extent are we in the situation where we need the planning permission set out in this order because we have not gone down the path of digitalisation? We are relying entirely on paper-based forms. Yet as other noble Lords have said, we had four years to prepare for this situation; it was the will of the people to leave the European Union, including, we were told, the single market and the customs union. I firmly believe that we would not be in this position today if we had identified and progressed an advanced digitalisation procedure. I appreciate that my noble friend may not have the details today, but I would be grateful if she could write to noble Lords who have participated this afternoon. By concentrating more on northern ports and a programme of digitalisation, we could have eased some of the bottlenecks that we have seen.