Agenda item

To scrutinise progress in respect of preparedness for the implementation of EES, the recent traffic issues at half-term and what is being done to prepare for the summer holiday getaway/Olympics.

Representatives from the Port of Dover and the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF) will be in attendance.

gttttThe Chairman welcomed the following attendees to discuss the arrangements for the European Entry and Exit System (EES) and preparation for summer travel at the Port of Dover:

·         Andy Jeffrey - Head of Resilience & Emergency Planning, Kent County Council and Chair, KMRF EES Tactical Planning Group

·         Toby Howe – Strategic Resilience Manager, Highways & Transportation, Kent County Council

·         Doug Bannister – Chief Executive, Port of Dover

The Committee was given a presentation that covered the following points:

·         That the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF) had been planning for the impact of EES since the end of 2023. Kent County Council was the lead agency working with National Highways, Port of Dover and Eurotunnel.

·         partners are reviewing their business continuity plans, updating their internal That KMRF partners were reviewing their business continuity plans, updating their internal response plans, and ensuring they had sufficient competent staff to respond.

·         That implementation of EES was originally expected to be implemented from 6 October 2024, although this had not been confirmed and there might be some slight slippage in the date. 

·         A bespoke communication plan was being developed by KMRF to keep the public, businesses, road users and key stakeholders informed.

·         EES would primarily impact non-freight traffic. However, most KMRF capabilities were based around freight, although some of it would be adaptable to non-freight traffic. It was emphasised that there was currently a lack of legislation relating to passenger traffic as opposed to HGV traffic which could hinder measures to keep traffic in Dover moving.

·         The KMRF was finalising plans and capabilities and was looking to agree strategic intentions and tolerable levels of disruption.

·         A number of issues would be escalated to the government including access for all KMRF partners to all relevant information and modelling; funding and planning decisions in respect of off-highway sites; agreeing funding for KMRF costs in respect of EES planning and response; concerns over issues with proposed technological solutions for the Port of Dover and liaison with the European Union and Police aux Frontieres.

·         Exercise Bute would be held on 4 September 2024.

·         That Operation Brock could hold up to 2,000 HGV’s and could be a pressure valve to stop gridlock in Dover and Folkestone.

·         That Dover TAP could hold traffic outside of Dover to prevent the town from becoming gridlocked.

·         That Brock and TAP had a degree of fragility which could mean that any incidents could have a significant impact on Dover.

·         That compliance with and enforcement of any arrangements would be key to avoiding gridlock in Dover. This included junction management and there would be potential for the use of private companies to help the Police with this.

·         Trials of a permit system had been undertaken, requiring any HGV without a permit to return to the back of the queue.  

·         That the KMRF Community Impact Group was jointly chaired by Dover District Council and Folkestone and Hythe District Council. It would be made clear to the public and local businesses what could and could not be done but drivers would need to prepare for delays.

·         That the infrastructure at the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel needed investment to deal with EES.

In respect of the Port of Dover, Members were advised:

·         That outbound controls would create holding capacity in the Port equivalent to TAP and this would help keep Dover moving.

·         That the Port needed the £45 million of funding from the government which it would match.

·         That the Port of Dover had been working on EES since 2018 and had attended meetings in the European Union on it.

·         That EES was a UK passport holder issue not a Dover issue.

·         That as part of Phase 1 of the Port’s plans, construction at the Old Boat Yard site had created space for coaches to be processed. It was expected that once a coach had been checked it would be sealed and would be able to proceed straight to the ferry. It was not possible for cars to be sealed in the same way.

·         The Port of Dover would be able to process 420 cars per hour. However, 600 cars per hour would be arriving in the Summer peak. There will be triage arrangements needed to deal with the difference between the number of cars that could be processed per hour and the number arriving. Work was being done to model traffic flows.

·         In Phase 2 of the Port’s plans, new land at Catherine Dock’s would raise the capacity for processing cars to 600 per hour.

·         There were a number of technological challenges that could impact on how quickly vehicles could be processed.

·         The importance of real time updates for people heading to the Port.

·         The importance of the remaining part of the A2 being dualled.

·         The feedback from last summer was that the traffic was busy but okay.

Members raised the following points:

·         To confirm that KMRF was meeting with the government in respect of this matter. Members were advised that meetings were being held with government.

·         To express concern over the impact of EES on the people of Aycliffe.

·         To question whether enough was being done to bring the impact of EES to the attention of the public.

·         To raise concerns over the impact of EES on the Whitfield Roundabout.

·         To support moves to get pre-registration of passenger traffic in place. It was suggested that Sevington could be used to hold traffic. In response, Members were advised that although there was space for 600 vehicles it was located on the wrong side of the motorway.

·         To question what the impact of EES would be on the three major NHS Hospitals in East Kent.

·         To ask if the results of Exercise Bute would be shared. In response Members were advised that the results would be shared with Dover District Council.

·         To ask if the EES checks could be charged for. In response it was stated that they were a European Union matter and applied to all the European Union’s external borders.

·         To express support for the dualling of the A2. However, it was noted that this was not in the current road plans.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and welcomed the offer from the Port of Dover to attend a future meeting to update Members on progress. He emphasised that the Committee did not want to see Dover gridlocked as a result of EES.