Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will take steps to issue guidance on the use of buckle belts following advice issued by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and in the context of local authorities use of home to school transport services.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
I recognise the importance of vulnerable young people being able to travel safely to school and elsewhere and I understand why some local authorities have chosen to use these devices to try and keep children safe. However, there are potential safety issues in the event of an emergency, and for this reason DVSA has sent two direct notices to public service vehicle operators to highlight the potential issues.
However, this is a complicated matter and the DVSA has no plans to target enforcement action against their use, instead it will support PSV operators and other transport providers and DVSA is working with industry to develop solutions to maintain the safe transport of PSV users.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on an exchange agreement to allow holders of a Ukrainian licence to drive both manual and automatic vehicles in the UK.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The current driving licence exchange agreement with Ukraine allows the licence holder to drive both manual and automatic vehicles, providing the Ukrainian driving licence was issued following a test taken after 28 December 2021.
The law only allows drivers who took a test in Ukraine before 28 December 2021 to be granted entitlement to drive automatic cars when the GB licence is issued. This is because the Ukrainian driver licensing authority does not retain information to confirm whether a test was taken in a manual or automatic vehicle before this date. This restriction also applies to licence exchange agreements with other countries where the licence issuing authority does not retain information about the type of vehicle in which a test was taken.
However, the Department for Transport appreciates the unique circumstances that Ukrainians who have come to the UK find themselves in. The Department for Transport is exploring options to enable this group to use their Ukrainian driving licences for longer and minimise the administrative burden they face and will keep this House and the Ukrainian community in the UK updated on this work.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on an exchange agreement to allow holders of a Ukrainian licence to drive larger vehicles to exchange it for a UK equivalent.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is progressing the work needed to introduce an exchange agreement for Ukrainian lorry and bus licences as quickly as possible. This will be subject to a public consultation and the necessary legal processes.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if the Government will urgently review the status of South Africa on its traffic light covid-19 travel list.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
At the most recent review on 26 August, it was decided that South Africa would remain on the red list as South Africa continues to present a high public health risk to the UK from variants of concern.
All classification changes have been decided by ministers, informed by the latest data and analysis by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) and wider public health considerations. The country allocations are reviewed on a regular basis and the Government will not hesitate to take action where a country’s epidemiological picture changes.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress the Government has made on negotiations with the US Administration on the opening up of a travel corridor between the UK and US.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Prime Minster and President Biden have made clear the importance of bringing about the return of safe trans-Atlantic travel as soon as possible.
The recently formed joint UK-US Experts’ Working Group is underway, and we are working closely with our US partners on delivering the practical solutions to effectively restoring travel.
Travel from the UK to the US is currently restricted under Presidential Executive Order and regulations 212(f) and meaningful travel cannot begin in earnest until the US lifts these restrictions. As announced by Secretary of State for Transport on 8 July, we are confident that vaccines will play an important role in normalising travel between the UK and US this summer.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will reassess his decision not to extend driving theory tests for people whose test has expired during the covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place for road safety reasons; to ensure that a candidate’s knowledge 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 important that road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point that they drive unsupervised for the first time. Those with theory test certificates expiring may have taken their test in early 2019. Since then, their lessons and practice sessions will have been significantly curtailed during recent lockdowns and it is likely that their knowledge base will have diminished. Research suggests that this would be particularly harmful for hazard perception skills, a key factor in road safety.
Ensuring new drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the training of new drivers, who are disproportionality represented in casualty statistics. Taking all this into consideration, the decision has been made not to extend theory test certificates and learners will need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government recovery package for the aviation industry will include assistance for Concessionaire businesses that do not have rateable value (RV) numbers but provide the same trade association and contribution toward the airports as businesses with RV numbers.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme will provide support to eligible commercial airports and ground handler companies up to the equivalent of their business rates liabilities in the 2020/21 financial year, subject to certain conditions and a cap per claimant of £8m. The scheme is not available to other businesses.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government's airport support scheme will include support for retail businesses based within airports.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme announced on 24 November will provide support to eligible airports and ground handling companies, up to the equivalent of their business rates liabilities in the 2020/21 financial year, subject to certain conditions and a cap per applicant of £8m. AGOSS will be launched shortly when full details on eligibility will be set out.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his assessment is of the (a) number of and (b) proportion of the total fleet of Heavy Good Vehicles powered by biomethane by 2030.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department has not made any assessment of the number or proportion of heavy goods vehicles that could be powered by biomethane by 2030.