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Dredging: Costs

Asked by Mr Richard HoldenConservativeDepartment for TransportTabled Answered 9 December 2025UIN 95964

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate the Government has made of a) the annual cost to UK port operators of dredging and disposing of dredged material required to maintain navigational access, b) the proportion of those costs arising from disposal levies and monitoring fees, and c) how those costs compare with equivalent charges in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Answered by Keir Mather

a) Information relating to the annual cost to UK port operators of dredging and disposing of dredged material required to maintain navigational access is not held centrally.

b) The costs arising from the disposal levies and monitoring fees for last three years are shown in the table below:

Calendar Year

Total Tonnes Disposed

Chargeable Tonnage

Fees
(1p per tonne, £15k cap)

2024

17,564,239

12,363,054

£114,025

2023

25,410,859

17,679,722

£89,322

2022

32,147,787

25,476,658

£89,332

c) The equivalent information for France, Belgium and the Netherlands is not held centrally.

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