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Administrative timetable

Final report

9 July 2024: The SAU has published its report providing advice to DfT concerning its proposed subsidy for the DHB. The report sets out the SAUs evaluation of DfTs Assessment of Compliance of its proposed scheme with the requirements set out in the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

• Final report (9.7.24)

Request from the Department for Transport

29 May 2024: The SAU has accepted a request for a report from DfT concerning a proposed subsidy to DHB. This request relates to a Subsidy of Particular Interest.

The SAU will prepare a report, which will provide an evaluation of the Department for Transports assessment of whether the subsidy complies with the subsidy control requirements (Assessment of Compliance). The SAU will complete its report within 30 working days.

Information about the subsidy provided by the Department for Transport

DfT and Kent County Council (KCC) are proposing to award a grant of 45m to DHB, the owner and operator of the Port of Dover (PoD) to implement the Dover Border Access Improvement Project (the Project). This grant was applied for by KCC and provisionally approved as part of the Levelling Up Fund in January 2023. The strategic aims of the Project are to improve the flow of traffic from the UK to the EU while also reducing the incidence and extent of congestion on the strategic and local road network, including when there is disruption to Port flows. The other element of the project is the resequencing of border controls to enable the UK to meet in full its obligations under the Treaty of Le Touquet 2003.

Disruption of traffic in Kent can have significant economic and supply chain impacts, due to (i) freight where traffic management operations are implemented with the Dover Traffic Access Protocol and Operation BROCK which involve holding HGVs on the A20 and M20 respectively and (ii) when passenger vehicle queues spill out of the port affecting the local and strategic road network. Therefore, the grant is designed to support the implementation of the Project by tackling two important issues; resequencing checks into the correct order which, by enhancing border security measures at the Port, will reduce disruptions associated with the processing of vehicles through these checks. Secondly improving traffic flow in and around Dover by increasing capacity of the border processing facilities in the Port. Addressing these issues will consequently result in economic benefits to the local Kent and wider UK economy. These economic benefits would include making Dover (and overall Kent) a more attractive option for local industry, business and tourism while also reducing the burden at the UKs most important point for trade with the EU.

The grant will be made to DHB who will be implementing the project. As a Statutory Harbour Authority and Trust Port, DHBs legal requirement is to operate in line with its statutory duties outlined in its enabling legislation (which can be summarised as the administration, maintenance and improvement of the harbour), taking into account the interests of its stakeholders, including their direct users e.g. the ferry operators and direct customer.

The indicative capital cost estimate for the project is currently estimated at 62 million. This cost will be met by a grant of 45 million which has been provisionally secured by KCC through the Governments Levelling Up Fund and with all remaining costs including any cost overruns to be met by DHB. For the purposes of the assessment the whole of the 45m grant is being treated as subsidy.

The grant award will be governed by a Grant Funding Agreement (GFA). The GFA will be prescriptive about the use of the subsidy, and the achievement of outputs and outcomes presented in the business case will be closely monitored during delivery. The GFA will include appropriate provisions so that key assumptions underpinning the value of the subsidy award can be reviewed after a successful period of operation.

This assessment of the subsidy was produced jointly between DfT and KCC. It has drawn upon analysis provided by the Port of Dover and their consultants, as well as traffic modelling and analysis by KCC and consultants for the business case with separate analysis and assurance by KCC and DfT, including external consultancy assurance of the business case for DfT. It has been agreed that DfT will act as the public authority who submits the subsidy analysis although both public authorities agree with the conclusions presented in the assessment and both will continue to work together in the same way to consider any action to be taken in relation to any recommendations in the CMAs advice on the subsidy.

Information for third parties

If you wish to comment on matters relevant to the SAUs evaluation of the Assessment of Compliance concerning the proposed subsidy to DHB, please send your comments before 5pm on the date stipulated in the timetable above. For guidance on representations relevant to the Assessment of Compliance, see the section on reporting period and transparency in the Operation of the subsidy control functions of the SAU.

Notes to third parties wishing to make a submission

The SAU will only take your submission into account if it can be shared with DfT. The SAU will send a copy of your submission to DfT together with its report. This is to allow the public authority to take account of the submission in its decision as to whether to modify the subsidy or its assessment. We therefore ask that you provide express consent for your full and unredacted submission to be shared. We also encourage you to share your submission directly with the Department for Transport using the email address provided above.

The SAU may use the information you provide in its published report. Therefore, you should indicate in your submission whether any specified parts of it are commercially confidential. If the SAU wishes to refer in its published report to material identified as confidential, it will contact you in advance.

For further details on confidentiality of third party submissions, see identifying confidential information in the Operation of the subsidy control functions of the SAU.

Contacts

• CMA press team: 020 3738 6460 or press@cma.gov.uk