Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to facilitate maritime crew changes during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The UK has not placed restrictions on the transit and transfer of seafarers. I have previously written to UN organisations asking for an international solution to this issue, confirming the UK’s position on crew changes, and also urged other countries to allow crew changes to take place. The UK has also exempted seafarers from the quarantine requirements
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who the members of the Jet Zero Council will be.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government is working on the details of the Jet Zero Council and will look to engage with stakeholders shortly to agree the Council membership, drawing as broadly as possible across airlines, airports, aerospace manufacturers, fuel suppliers, and environmental groups.
Further details and the Council’s Terms of Reference will be announced in due course.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2020 to Question 53999 on Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties, what the value has been of savings to (a) the public purse and (b) businesses from the abolition of the paper vehicle licence in each year since 2014.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
In the first full financial year 2015-16 the actual saving to the public purse from the abolition of the paper vehicle licence was £8.9 million. In the financial year 2016-17 the actual saving was £8.5 million. This saving was anticipated to be a recurring annual figure.
There was an estimated administrative cost saving of around £7.5m each year for vehicle business activities.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many requests for vehicle data were made to the DVLA in the last year for which figures are available; and how many companies (a) had access and (b) were denied access to that data.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
In 2019, the Driver and Vehicle Agency received 25,569,164 requests for vehicle keeper data. Electronic requests were made by 942 organisations, which include local authorities, private parking companies, insurance companies and finance companies. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of those who request data making a paper application. 25 companies were denied access to vehicle data.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on (a) airports and (b) their associated industries in the (i) East and (ii) West Midlands.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government recognises the challenging times facing the aviation sector as a result of COVID-19, and has been engaging regularly with airports throughout all regions of the UK, including the East and West Midlands, to understand the impact that COVID-19 is having on their operational and financial positions. This engagement is ongoing.
It is of vital importance that key sectors such as aviation are protected, and this means not just airports, but also the wider supply chain, including ground handlers and associated industries, who keep the sector running. We are working closely with the sector to support it to ensure there is sufficient capacity to protect global travel routes, continue repatriation, freight and maintain vital connectivity.
Businesses across the aviation industry, including airports, ground handlers and companies in their supply chains, are able to draw on the unprecedented package of economic measures we have put in place during this time.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 May 202 to Question 48265 on Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reintroducing paper licence discs.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The abolition of the paper vehicle tax disc has delivered significant savings for the taxpayer and businesses since its removal in 2014.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), the police and other enforcement authorities use data from the DVLA’s vehicle register to confirm that vehicle excise duty has been paid. Over £6 billion is collected annually. The Government has no plans to reinstate the paper vehicle tax disc.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number and proportion of vehicles that were untaxed in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department for Transport carries out a survey, which since 2011 has taken place every two years, which estimates the rate of vehicle excise duty evasion among vehicles seen on UK roads. The attached table shows the estimated number and proportion of untaxed vehicles in each survey since 2010.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on long term rail passenger demand of the covid-19 outbreak on (a) suburban (b) inter-city rail, (c) light rail and (d) underground systems.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
This crisis will have a long-lasting impact on our society – but it is too early to predict what that may mean in practice. There are a number of factors that will determine the demand for these modes of transport, including when lockdown restrictions are lifted, the nature of social distancing guidelines put in place going forward, and how people’s attitudes towards travel may have changed.
In the short term, we are working to ensure essential services are still running, and goods and passengers can get where they are needed most
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of vehicles evading road tax and the consequent loss of revenue for the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The most recent roadside survey, published in November 2019, estimated that 1.6% of vehicles in UK traffic were unlicensed. This represents a very high compliance rate of 98.4% and is a statistically significant reduction in unlicensed vehicles since 2017. The maximum level of potential revenue loss was estimated to be £94 million over the course of one year. However, enforcement activities against unlicensed vehicles accounted for around £90 million in fines and penalties being reported by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency during 2018/19.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that new electric buses funded from the public purse will be built in the UK.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
On 10 February, the Prime Minister announced £5 billion of new funding to overhaul bus and cycle links for every region outside London. This included a commitment to at least 4,000 new zero emission buses to make greener travel the convenient option, driving forward the UK’s progress on its net zero ambitions. Further details about how that will be achieved are being developed alongside the national bus strategy, which we expect to publish later this year.