Department for Transport

The table below shows the number of drivers in each age group holding category C or C+E driving entitlement and who do not have a certificate of professional competence as of 18 September.

The table below shows the number of drivers in each age group holding category C or C+E driving entitlement and who do not have a certificate of professional competence as of 18 September.

Our recently published ‘Decarbonising Transport: A Better, Greener Britain’ committed to delivering the necessary emissions reductions in road transport to reach net zero by 2050. It is not about stopping people doing things. Rather, we want to drive the transition to electric vehicles and put in place a range of alternatives for people to make more sustainable journeys.

As part of this, we are phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, and, from 2035, all new cars and vans must be zero emissions at the tailpipe. We are also consulting on phase out dates for the sale of new non-zero emission HGVs, which includes all fossil-fuelled HGVs, to ensure that our road freight fleet will be zero emission by 2050. The consultation closed on 3rd September and we are now considering responses.

Government has no current policy on introducing road user charges. As stated in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, as we move forward with the transition to zero emission vehicles, we will need to ensure that the tax system encourages the uptake of EVs and that revenue from motoring taxes keeps pace with this change, to ensure we can continue to fund the first-class public services and infrastructure that people and families across the UK expect.

The Department for Transport has not allocated funds in England for Freight Facilities Grant and hence no assessment has been made whether it could relieve the HGV driver shortage. The Freight Facilities Grant in England closed in 2011.

The Government has already taken firm action to bring new drivers into the industry as soon as possible. These measures include training up to 6,000 new HGV drivers through skills bootcamps and the adult education budget, using MOD examiners to increase testing capacity by thousands over the next 12 weeks, sending nearly one million letters to all drivers who currently hold an HGV driving licence to encourage them back into the industry and offering time-limited visas to 5,000 HGV drivers.

The Government is also providing £20 million through its mode shift freight grant schemes in 2021/22 to encourage modal shift from road to rail or water.

The total area of ground that would need to be excavated for the construction of the A303 dual carriageway and Tunnel within the World Heritage site is approximately 8.8 hectares.

The area of Crown land identified within the World Heritage Site to be permanently acquired to enable the construction and operation of the A303 dual carriageway and tunnel is approximately 4,220 square metres. This is the land beneath the existing A303, which is unregistered and (in accordance with the ad medium filum rule) ownership has been attributed to the adjacent parties to the halfway point of the road. The adjacent landowner on the north side of the road is the land parcel that was gifted to the nation by Sir Cecil Chubb.

During inquiries to identify the legal entities with an interest in this land, it was identified that the land gifted by Sir Cecil Chubb is held in the name of the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. As such the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is assumed to hold an interest in the subsoil beneath the A303 up to its half width by virtue of the ad medium filum rule. This is considered to be Crown land. No land gifted by Sir Cecil Chubb is included within the land to be acquired for the Development Consent Order.

Within the World Heritage Site, there is approximately 52.83 hectares of land owned by The National Trust that would need to be acquired or compulsory purchased. Of this 6.3 hectares are subject to outright acquisition, and 46.53 hectares are subject to acquisition at subsoil level for the construction of the bored tunnel with rights above. Of this land, 41.62 hectares has been declared as inalienable, 1.75 hectares subject to outright acquisition, and 39.87 hectares subject to subsoil acquisition.

The total area of ground that would need to be excavated for the construction of the A303 dual carriageway and Tunnel within the World Heritage site is approximately 8.8 hectares.

The area of Crown land identified within the World Heritage Site to be permanently acquired to enable the construction and operation of the A303 dual carriageway and tunnel is approximately 4,220 square metres. This is the land beneath the existing A303, which is unregistered and (in accordance with the ad medium filum rule) ownership has been attributed to the adjacent parties to the halfway point of the road. The adjacent landowner on the north side of the road is the land parcel that was gifted to the nation by Sir Cecil Chubb.

During inquiries to identify the legal entities with an interest in this land, it was identified that the land gifted by Sir Cecil Chubb is held in the name of the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. As such the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is assumed to hold an interest in the subsoil beneath the A303 up to its half width by virtue of the ad medium filum rule. This is considered to be Crown land. No land gifted by Sir Cecil Chubb is included within the land to be acquired for the Development Consent Order.

Within the World Heritage Site, there is approximately 52.83 hectares of land owned by The National Trust that would need to be acquired or compulsory purchased. Of this 6.3 hectares are subject to outright acquisition, and 46.53 hectares are subject to acquisition at subsoil level for the construction of the bored tunnel with rights above. Of this land, 41.62 hectares has been declared as inalienable, 1.75 hectares subject to outright acquisition, and 39.87 hectares subject to subsoil acquisition.

The total area of ground that would need to be excavated for the construction of the A303 dual carriageway and Tunnel within the World Heritage site is approximately 8.8 hectares.

The area of Crown land identified within the World Heritage Site to be permanently acquired to enable the construction and operation of the A303 dual carriageway and tunnel is approximately 4,220 square metres. This is the land beneath the existing A303, which is unregistered and (in accordance with the ad medium filum rule) ownership has been attributed to the adjacent parties to the halfway point of the road. The adjacent landowner on the north side of the road is the land parcel that was gifted to the nation by Sir Cecil Chubb.

During inquiries to identify the legal entities with an interest in this land, it was identified that the land gifted by Sir Cecil Chubb is held in the name of the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. As such the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is assumed to hold an interest in the subsoil beneath the A303 up to its half width by virtue of the ad medium filum rule. This is considered to be Crown land. No land gifted by Sir Cecil Chubb is included within the land to be acquired for the Development Consent Order.

Within the World Heritage Site, there is approximately 52.83 hectares of land owned by The National Trust that would need to be acquired or compulsory purchased. Of this 6.3 hectares are subject to outright acquisition, and 46.53 hectares are subject to acquisition at subsoil level for the construction of the bored tunnel with rights above. Of this land, 41.62 hectares has been declared as inalienable, 1.75 hectares subject to outright acquisition, and 39.87 hectares subject to subsoil acquisition.

The Government is providing £20m through its mode shift freight grant schemes in 2021/22 to support rail and water freight services on routes where they deliver environmental benefits over road haulage but are more expensive to operate.

The Government is supportive of modal shift of freight from road to rail wherever possible and is exploring the potential to increase rail freight capacity on the rail network to help reduce carbon emissions from the freight sector.

Roads within Scotland are the responsibility of the Scottish Government. However, the Department is willing to collaborate, where appropriate, on matters benefitting people across the United Kingdom.

On 22 September, there were 56,144 applications for vocational driving licences awaiting processing. These are a mix of first applications for a provisional vocational licence and renewals and include those applying for entitlement to drive both HGVs and buses. It is not possible to separate them out.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is prioritising applications for provisional vocational licences so these drivers can take their training quickly. Applications for provisional vocational licences are currently being processed within around 10 days of receipt.

It is important to note that the majority of those applying to renew their vocational licence will be able to continue to drive while their application is being processed.

It is not possible to specify how many staff are working on applications for HGV licences as most Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) operational roles require employees to carry out a range of tasks.

The DVLA continues to explore opportunities to reduce turnaround times for paper applications. Extra staff have been recruited and the DVLA is seeking extra office space to house more staff to help reduce backlogs and provide future resilience and business continuity.

All security equipment and associated processes are required to meet security standards sufficient to ensure that prohibited articles are not taken beyond the airport search point. For security reasons we do not provide details of such arrangements.

The Department for Transport does not hold this information.

This will be a matter for the airport depending on the configuration of the security checkpoint.

The Secretary of State for Transport is responsible for setting the security measures that should be applied in the UK. The Department for Transport advises the industry on equipment that may be used for screening at an airport. This is set out in the DfT Approved Equipment List https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list . All such equipment meets the standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) of which the UK is a member.

Heathrow airport has met the monthly security queue standards set under its economic licence between January – August 2021, as demonstrated in its latest performance reports except for one day in July at Terminal 5 central search.

Staff must have received appropriate training in the use of equipment before they can operate in a live environment. Staff will have to complete relevant training as outlined in the training syllabi that can be found on the CAA website at https://www.caa.co.uk/Commercial-industry/Security/Training/Syllabuses/. We do not provide details of the specific training for security reasons.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has an ongoing campaign to increase the number of examiners by recruiting around 300 driving examiners between 1 April 2021 and June 2022. As at 21 September 2021, 74 examiners have been recruited.

97% of examiners, that were recruited as at July 2021, were actively conducting practical driving tests on a full-time basis as at 20 September 2021.

As a result of the DVSA’s first recruitment campaign, there are 107 people either attending, or booked to attend, their training between now and January 2022. As a result of the second recruitment campaign, there are 62 people who have passed the selection process; these candidates will be notified week commencing 27 September 2021.

To support the recruitment campaign, the agency is also exploring options to temporarily contract in experienced driving assessors from other road safety organisations to become driving examiners.

The DVSA has put a number of measures in place to increase practical driving tests and reduce waiting times. These include offering a national recovery allowance and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays and weekends).

The Secretary of State for Transport is responsible for setting the security measures that should be applied in the UK. The Department for Transport advises the industry on equipment that may be used for screening at an airport. This is set out in the DfT Approved Equipment List https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list . All such equipment meets the standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) of which the UK is a member.

Supervisors must have received appropriate training in the use of security equipment. Supervisors have to complete relevant training as outlined in the training syllabi that can be found on the CAA website at https://www.caa.co.uk/Commercial-industry/Security/Training/Syllabuses/. We do not provide details of the specific training for security reasons.

The Department for Transport keeps security at airports under constant review and is in regular contact with airports and manufacturers. Purchasing equipment however remains the decision of airports.

Any equipment in use must meet the security standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) and be approved for use by the Department for Transport. Approved equipment can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list.

To incentivise good service quality performance for consumers, the CAA sets the following security queue standards that it expects Heathrow airport to meet under its economic licence:

- Central search security queue standards

o 95% of queue times measured once every 15 minutes that are less than 5 minutes

o 99% of queue times measured once every 15 minutes that are less than 10 minutes

- Transfer search security queue standard

o 95% of queue times measured once every 15 minutes that are less than 10 minutes

- Staff search security queue standard

o 95% of queue times measured once every 15 minutes that are less than 10 minutes

Queue times which do not meet these standards can trigger a rebate payable by Heathrow airport.

For national and aviation security reasons we do not comment on the detail of specific security arrangements, or on the details of the equipment in use.

The responsibility for ensuring that personnel are trained to operate any security equipment to a standard sufficient to ensure that no prohibited articles are taken beyond the search point falls to the airport.

Staff must have received appropriate training in the use of equipment before they can operate in a live environment. Staff will have to complete relevant training as outlined in the training syllabi that can be found on the CAA website at https://www.caa.co.uk/Commercial-industry/Security/Training/Syllabuses/. We do not provide details of the specific training for security reasons.

We are giving careful consideration to the large volume of responses to our consultation to help inform our policy decision and will publish the outcome as soon as possible.

£239 million of capital funding is being made available to local authorities outside London this financial year for active travel measures, including cycle parking infrastructure. Local transport authorities have been invited to bid for this funding and allocations will be announced in the autumn.

In London, Transport for London (TfL) and the London Boroughs are responsible for the provision of public cycle parking. The Government announced a third funding and financing package for TfL in June this year, which includes £100 million to continue the delivery of healthy streets and active travel programmes.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has increased the number of vocational driving tests available per week to 3,000. This is a 50% increase from before the pandemic, achieved through the use of overtime and moving additional staff into testing.

DVSA has recruited 300 new car examiners to ease demand on vocational examiners, who conduct HGV driving tests, and is also recruiting 40 more vocational examiners. In addition, the delegation of the reversing manoeuvres in the HGV driving test to approved trainers, announced on 10 September 2021, will allow vocational examiners to complete more driving tests per day.

The forthcoming regulatory change to remove the requirement to take a test to tow a trailer with a car, also announced on 10 September, will result in around an additional 30,000 vocational tests a year being made available, as most of the examiners who conducted car and trailer tests are also qualified to conduct HGV and HGV and trailer tests. A further 20,000 vocational tests will be made available through removing the requirement to take a rigid lorry (Cat C) test before an articulated vehicle (Cat C+E) test.

The Department for Transport has successfully agreed arrangements with Italy for the mutual recognition of photocard licences. As such, visitors with UK photocard licences will not need to carry an additional International Driving Permit when driving in Italy.

We have also secured interim arrangements with the Italian authorities which will allow UK licence holders resident in Italy to continue to use their valid UK licence until the end of this year. We are working with the Italian Government to finalise a permanent licence exchange agreement as soon as possible.

The Government is engaging closely with industry, including Eurostar, to consider the operational challenges and impacts as a result of border operations, including the introduction of the EU’s ‘Entry-Exit system’.

I recently met with Eurostar representatives at St Pancras to discuss this issue and understand the operational challenges. My officials have facilitated similar discussions on this issue with industry and other government departments. The Government expects to see workable, pragmatic solutions, which take account of the unique operational considerations of juxtaposed border controls and supports efficient passenger flows.

The Government is engaging closely with industry, including Eurostar, to consider the operational challenges and impacts as a result of border operations, including the introduction of the EU’s ‘Entry-Exit system’.

I recently met with Eurostar representatives at St Pancras to discuss this issue and understand the operational challenges. My officials have facilitated similar discussions on this issue with industry and other government departments. The Government expects to see workable, pragmatic solutions, which take account of the unique operational considerations of juxtaposed border controls and supports efficient passenger flows.

Any equipment in use must meet the security standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) and be approved for use by the Department for Transport. Approved equipment can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list. We do not provide specific details of the security equipment in use for security reasons.

The Secretary of State for Transport has regular contact with the US, including the US Secretary of Transportation.

On 20 September the US government confirmed that they will be allowing vaccinated Brits into the US from early November, reciprocating the policy introduced by the UK on 2 August. This demonstrates the hard work and progress made by the UK-US Experts Working Group to restart transatlantic travel and kick start the economy. The Experts Working Group will continue to work together to ensure the return of safe and sustainable international travel.

Electrification of the railway between Bath and Bristol has been recognised as a priority in Network Rail’s Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy. We are working with Network Rail to consider how decarbonisation priority investment proposals are taken forward through the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline.

The Department reviewed the case for amending the current speed and power restrictions as part of the Future of Transport Regulatory Review Call for Evidence published in 2020 and has no plans to amend the existing regulations.

The Government has not been informed by Train Operating Companies of any plans deriving from the Enabling Framework Agreement and the work of the Rail Industry Recovery Group.

The Government takes road safety very seriously and the UK has some of the safest roads in the world. It is important that drivers with Category C and C+E entitlement on their driving licences fully meet the requirements for those returning to HGV driving. This includes a driver medical and renewing their Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC).

A joint DfT/industry letter will be sent to HGV licence holders this week to encourage those who have left the profession to return.

The Government takes road safety very seriously and the UK has some of the safest roads in the world. Therefore, the Government will explore options for an industry-led accreditation that could offer a standardised non-statutory training approach. We plan to meet with key stakeholders including trainers and insurers to discuss this idea.

Secretary of State for Transport has met with representatives of the road haulage industry five times during 2021.

Transport Ministers have also held an additional thirteen meetings with the haulage industry in 2021. This includes a roundtable on addressing the driver shortage jointly held by Minister for Transport Baroness Vere and Employment Minister, Mims Davies MP.

In addition to these meetings, representatives of the road haulage industry meet with Departmental officials on a biweekly basis.

The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a candidate’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it.

It is not possible to estimate how many candidates have had to re-sit their driving theory test as a result of practical driving test appointment availability.

The vehicle registration certificate already allows motorists to voluntarily enter the new keeper’s date of birth and driving licence number when advising the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) or a change of keeper. There are no plans to make this a requirement.

When the police stop a vehicle then a driving licence check is a routine enquiry which they can make. If the police have reasonable grounds to suspect someone of driving a vehicle not in accordance with their driving licence, or without insurance then a vehicle may be seized.

Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) has enabled action to be taken against those who keep a vehicle without insurance. CIE allows uninsured vehicles to be identified from a comparison of the DVLA’s vehicle register and the Motor Insurance Database of insurance policies managed by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB). Keepers of vehicles which appear to be uninsured are sent reminder letters. Those who take no action receive a fixed penalty of £100, followed by enforcement action including prosecution. Since CIE’s introduction in 2011, uninsured vehicles have fallen from 1.4 million to 1 million.

It supplements enforcement action by the police on the road, where from 2005 police have had the power to seize vehicles that are being driven without insurance.

There are 146 driving test centres (DTC) that have at least one car test available within the next six weeks. A total of 741 tests are available within six weeks at those DTCs.

The heavy goods vehicle driver shortage is well documented and the Government has been considering a range of measures that will help the industry recover from the pandemic.

The Department and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will continue to encourage people who want to drive a car and trailer to get professional training with providers to promote road safety and help support those businesses.

The DVSA is exploring options for an industry-led accreditation that could offer a standardised non-statutory testing approach, and is engaging with key stakeholders, trainers and insurers, to discuss this issue.

The DVSA is also in discussions with the training industry to understand their capacity to deliver the off-road manoeuvres element of the vocational test and will work with them to develop a robust and clear process by which to assess, accredit and audit any trainers who wish to assess the manoeuvres element of the test.

The DVSA is establishing a new business manager role to work with vocational trainers as a local contact to better understand their current and future needs. This will help the agency to be more responsive to vocational trainers needs and help support businesses and people employed to deliver training.

The heavy goods vehicle driver shortage is well documented and the Government has been considering a range of measures that will help the industry recover from the pandemic.

The Department and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will continue to encourage people who want to drive a car and trailer to get professional training with providers to promote road safety and help support those businesses.

The DVSA is exploring options for an industry-led accreditation that could offer a standardised non-statutory testing approach, and is engaging with key stakeholders, trainers and insurers, to discuss this issue.

The DVSA is also in discussions with the training industry to understand their capacity to deliver the off-road manoeuvres element of the vocational test and will work with them to develop a robust and clear process by which to assess, accredit and audit any trainers who wish to assess the manoeuvres element of the test.

The DVSA is establishing a new business manager role to work with vocational trainers as a local contact to better understand their current and future needs. This will help the agency to be more responsive to vocational trainers needs and help support businesses and people employed to deliver training.

The heavy goods vehicle driver shortage is well documented and the Government has been considering a range of measures that will help the industry recover from the pandemic.

The Government has announced that the time allocated for a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) and passenger carrying vehicle (PCV) driving test will be reduced, by removing the ‘reversing exercise’ element and ‘uncouple/ recouple’ element for vehicles with trailers and instead having them tested separately by the driver training industry. This part of the test is carried out off the road on a manoeuvring area.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is in discussions with the training industry to understand their capacity to deliver this part of the test. It will also work with them to develop a robust and clear process by which to assess, accredit and audit any trainers who wish to assess the manoeuvres element of the test. Testing such manoeuvres separately will free up examiner time, meaning an increase to the number of tests an examiner conducts per day.

The DVSA takes its commitment to road safety extremely seriously and it will work with the industry and stakeholders to drive forward the importance of safe driving and safe towing. These changes will not change the standard of driving required to drive a HGV, with road safety continuing to be of paramount importance. Any driver who does not demonstrate utmost competence will not be granted a licence.