Recommendation 27

In the event of major delays at the short Channel crossings, the Cabinet Office told us that there are plans to prioritise certain goods, such as exports of day-old chicks and fish for human consumption, and that additional freight capacity has been procured for the import of critical goods.73 The Cabinet Office said it is developing a border impact centre to manage disruption but is facing issues in securing access to data held by other government departments. The infrastructure in Kent to hold HGVs in case of delays is also still in development, with one of the two sites still to be acquired when we took evidence in early October.74 It is not clear how the geographical travel restrictions introduced for Covid-19 may complicate the movement of freight, although the Cabinet Office is confident the processes used to ensure freight flowed through the national lockdown will work through the winter.75 71 Q 85 72 Q 88 73 Qq 86–87 74 Qq 91, 92 75 Q100 18 Whitehall preparations for EU Exit