Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition (in respect of his European Transition responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:58 pm on 27 January 2021.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 2:58, 27 January 2021

I'd be glad to take up Janet Finch-Saunders's invitation, and, forgive me, I was assuming that she was aware of the contents of the end of transition action plan, which stipulates in quite close detail everything that we're doing. But, anyway, I'll refer her to the contents of that for detail.

On the specific point that she makes, I myself found it rather offensive to describe these as 'teething troubles', actually; these are consequences of a freely negotiated agreement that were foreseeable and, indeed, foreseen. So, it is incumbent on governments to support port operators and freight companies and hauliers as well. We are doing that, as a Welsh Government. We're working with the UK Government and with the Irish Government, in fact. We've managed to ensure that the turnarounds at Holyhead, for example, have reduced from around 20 per cent of vehicles to something in the order of 5, 6 or 7 per cent—it varies, obviously. We've participated and led on detailed webinars with hauliers and freight companies, with many people coming on board to understand the new barriers that they face. We work closely with the ports, closely with HMRC and closely with the Irish Government in relation to this. What I want to see and what the Welsh Government wants to see is the land bridge protected. It is the fastest route, in ordinary circumstances, and it's certainly more effective and efficient, and we want to make sure that hauliers recognise that and support it. What we do not accept is that these can be dismissed as teething troubles, as UK Government Ministers have done. We think it requires a proactive approach of working together to solve the problem and explain to hauliers, and that is a much better approach than simply brushing them off as teething problems.