Asked by: Lord Morris of Aberavon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of civil servants at the DVLA worked from home in the last 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The information is not available in the format requested. The table below shows information on the percentage of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency staff working from home on the first Monday (or subsequent working day) of each month.
Date | Percentage of staff working from home |
7 Mar 2022 | 39.9 |
7 Feb 2022 | 40.2 |
4 Jan 2022 | 38.0 |
6 Dec 2021 | 38.3 |
1 Nov 2021 | 36.2 |
4 Oct 2021 | 35.4 |
6 Sept 2021 | 34.8 |
2 Aug 2021 | 33.4 |
5 Jul 2021 | 34.7 |
7 Jun 2021 | 34.4 |
4 May 2021 | 34.9 |
6 Apr 2021 | 33.4 |
The vast majority of staff responsible for processing the 60,000 items of mail the DVLA receives every day can only do their work effectively in the office as it involves the handling of sensitive original documentation, for example medical information, birth certificates and passports. These staff have to attend the workplace for their contracted working hours. Staff working from home are mainly in support areas, for example, policy, finance, HR and IT. These staff are doing their jobs fully effectively remotely.
The Welsh Government’s guidance, updated on 25 March, continues to ask those who can work from home to do so. The DVLA has opened up space for these staff to attend the office when they need to, such as for meetings or workshops and plans are in place to return staff to the office when restrictions lift further.
Asked by: Lord Morris of Aberavon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what restrictions have been imposed on airport passengers arriving in UK airports as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; and what assessment they have made of how any such restrictions compare with the restrictions on such passengers arriving in other major capital cities in Europe. [T]
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The safety of passengers is a priority, and measures are already in place to protect people’s health and safety when travelling by air.?All airports are asked to follow Public Health England guidance on preventing the spread of COVID-19. Public Health England has also provided specific guidance on health and safety for flight crews. The advice for travellers is the same as for the rest of the UK population.
The Government’s “stay at home” posters are on display at all UK airports and many airports have the messaging on digital screens as well. Airports and airlines have also been provided with Public Health England leaflets to give to passengers outlining the symptoms of COVID-19, current guidance, and general public health advice.
Our approach is being kept under review as the pandemic develops.
This may mean that measures and procedures change as we control the spread of, and understand more about, the virus. Any changes to our approach will be led by advice from SAGE and the Chief Medical Officer. Protecting the health of the UK public will always come first.
The Department is monitoring closely the measures being put in place in many countries, including all European countries. We continue to work closely with international partners to consider what measures are appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Morris of Aberavon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for devolving greater infrastructure powers to the Welsh Government, in particular powers over rail services.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are working closely with Welsh Government to divest the Core Valley Lines from Network Rail to Transport for Wales, which will give the Welsh Government ownership and responsibility for the infrastructure. Furthermore, the Williams Rail Review is exploring different industry structures including devolution and will produce a set of recommendations in autumn.
Asked by: Lord Morris of Aberavon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 17 July (HL9180), what is the process for collecting the Heavy Goods Vehicle Levy (HGV) levy from lorries from the Republic of Ireland; and what assessment they have made of whether, and if so to what extent, lorries from the Republic of Ireland evade the HGV levy.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Lorry drivers from the Republic of Ireland pay for the HGV Levy in the same ways as users from other countries. The levy can be paid online, at a number of official Point of Sale (PoS) locations, at driver self-serve facilities offered by some operators and through a number of booking agents. The majority of levy purchases are via the HGV Levy website.
The overall compliance rate for foreign vehicles is high, according to figures collected by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in Great Britain, at 95%. The Department for Transport has not produced equivalent compliance rates by country of origin, but there are indications that vehicles from Ireland in Great Britain have a very similar compliance rate compared to vehicles from other countries.
Asked by: Lord Morris of Aberavon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much in HGV Levy was paid in 2017 in respect of lorries registered in (1) the Republic of Ireland, and (2) other EU member states; which EU member states lorries subject to the HGV Levy came from in 2017; and how is payment of the Levy enforced.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
In 2017-18, HGV levy revenue from non-UK hauliers was £50m. Of this, approximately £4m was from vehicles registered in the Republic of Ireland, £45m was from vehicles registered in other EU Member States, and £1m was from vehicles registered elsewhere. There were vehicles from all EU Member States paying the HGV levy during 2017-18.
The HGV levy is enforced by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). Vehicles are stopped at the roadside and, if they have not paid the right levy, the vehicle is held until a fine of £300 is paid. The DVSA targets vehicles that are known not to have paid the levy, and it also checks for levy compliance of vehicles that are stopped for other reasons.
Asked by: Lord Morris of Aberavon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of lorries from EU countries, and in particular the Republic of Ireland, using roads in the UK on the way to other EU countries; and whether any costs incurred by the UK will be taken in to account in negotiations with the EU.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Data for 2017 indicates that 36,000 Irish registered Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV) travelled through UK on their way to Mainland Europe.
Through the HGV levy these hauliers contribute to the costs of the roads they use. This will continue to be the case after the UK leaves the EU.
Asked by: Lord Morris of Aberavon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration has been given to amending the DVLA guidance for persons with diabetes to allow for those who use flash glucose monitoring and any other new technology to measure glucose levels.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) recognises that developments in this field are moving quickly and in January 2018, the specific reference to “blood glucose monitoring” was removed from the relevant regulations. This will potentially allow alternative methods of glucose monitoring to be accommodated in the future if it is deemed appropriate by expert medical opinion in the context of driving and maintaining road safety.
The DVLA is working closely with the Secretary of State for Transport’s Honorary Medical Advisory Panel on driving and diabetes mellitus to understand the potential impacts of allowing the use of alternative methods of glucose monitoring. This issue was discussed at the panel’s October meeting. The panel feels that there is currently insufficient evidence about the use of flash glucose monitoring devices in the context of driving to ensure road safety standards are maintained. The panel will continue to consider further evidence as it emerges.
Asked by: Lord Morris of Aberavon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the period of validity of checks on driving licences for the purposes of hiring cars has been extended from three days to three weeks; what assessment they have made of which is the better practice; and why the new procedure was adopted initially.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The validity period of the code for checking driving entitlement was extended from three days to three weeks following customer feedback. This suggested that the 72 hour validity period would not be long enough, particularly for people on holiday. The change will be reviewed after three months.
While the validity period has been extended to 21 days, each code can still be used only once. Car hire companies or employers also need the last eight digits of the driver’s licence number to be able to redeem the code. The code can also be cancelled by the driver at any time, which puts individual users in control of their information.
Asked by: Lord Morris of Aberavon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what publicity was given before 8 June to the abolition of the paper counterpart to the photocard driving licence.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) utilised media, online and direct mail channels to inform customers and businesses about the abolition of the paper counterpart to the photocard driving licence. The DVLA also engaged directly with trade organisations and car hire companies who may need to check the status of drivers. Since March 2015, the DVLA has written directly to 640,000 professional bus and lorry drivers and sent information to around a million drivers each month with driving licence renewals. Information on GOV.UK about the change has been viewed more than 3.2 million times.
Asked by: Lord Morris of Aberavon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advance publicity was given before 8 June of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency telephone number so those drivers who do not wish to use the online service can use it; and what is that number.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 12 May, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) published the View Driving Licence Assisted Digital telephone number (0300 083 0013) on the Abolition of the Counterpart campaign page on GOV.UK. This informed members of the public about their options for generating a driving licence check code.
From 19 May, customers telephoning the DVLA’s general enquiry line have been redirected to the new service through the automated telephone system.