Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to introduce an air bridge to Namibia; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Courts
Namibia is not currently on the list of countries exempt from self-isolation requirements. The Government takes a range of factors into account when deciding which countries to add or remove from the Travel Corridor list. These include an estimate of the proportion of the population that is currently infectious in each country, virus incidence rates, trends and rates of change, transmission status and international epidemic intelligence, information on a country’s testing capacity, testing regime and test positivity rate, an assessment of the quality of the data available, the effectiveness of measures being deployed by a country and the volume of travel between the UK and that country. ?The Government keeps the list of travel corridors under constant review. We will make further exemptions when we are sure that we can do so safely and responsibly.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his timescale is for the introduction of improvements to the Thameslink service to Maidstone East.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Officials continue to work with the industry to resolve the issues which have so far prevented a regular service from being introduced and to provide passengers in Maidstone with a regular all-day service to the City at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the performance of the DVLA since April 2020.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has a wide range of services available online which offer the quickest and easiest way to transact with the DVLA. These online services have worked well and as normal throughout the pandemic with more than 36 million online driver and vehicle transactions processed since March. The majority of DVLA’s customer interactions are digital or automated allowing businesses and motorists to transact with DVLA at a time and place that suits them.
The DVLA’s 6,000 staff are predominantly based in one office in Swansea and to adhere to social distancing requirements there has been a greatly reduced number of staff on-site at any one time. As a result, there have been delays in dealing with paper applications that have been posted to the DVLA as these have to be dealt with in person. The DVLA has implemented measures to reconfigure its office space to accommodate more operational staff within the two metre social distancing requirements in Wales and ensure it remains covid secure.
The DVLA has also accelerated the development of new online services to further reduce paper applications and has launched a publicity campaign to encourage the use of online services.
In June, the DVLA launched a new service allowing vehicle keepers to change their address online. This service was developed and introduced at pace in response to the pandemic and has been very successful with more than 213,000 change of address transactions completed online by the end of August. Further digital service enhancements are underway. Ministers are regularly briefed on the latest position as it relates to the DVLA’s services.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received from Maidstone Borough Council on establishing a new rail halt between Charing and Lenham in Kent; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Department has not received any representations from Maidstone Borough Council about a new rail halt between Charing and Lenham in Kent.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of creating a junction 8A on the M20; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
No estimate has been made as the Department has not received any representations seeking the construction of such a junction.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has received representations from Maidstone Borough Council on a proposed new Junction 8A on the M20; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department has not received any representations from Maidstone Borough Council on this topic.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria is required to be met for him to grant permission for the building of a new motorway junction.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Paragraphs 37 to 44 of the Department’s Circular 02/2013, Strategic road network and the delivery of sustainable development, set out how proposals for the creation of new junctions or access to the strategic road network (including motorways) will be considered.