Policy Statement on Ports

The government’s recent National Policy Statement on Britain’s Ports has been severely criticised by freight industry groups and member of Parliament.  The British International Freight Association has asked that major changes should be made to the policy, otherwise Britain risks losing its share of shipping traffic.  The draft policy states that the Government expects that infrastructures improvements should be partly funded by the port operator: BIFA says that this will mean Britain is at a disadvantage compared with the rest of the EU, where related infrastructure is state-funded. This could encourage port operators to expand these continental ports in preference to their UK operations, with a consequent reduction in shipping traffic to UK ports.