Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ease international travel restrictions on UK nationals.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
On 24 January the Secretary of State for Transport announced that, thanks to the success of the UK’s vaccine and booster rollout, the government will reduce travel restrictions ensuring a more proportionate system is in place for passengers.
Therefore, from 4am on 11 February eligible fully vaccinated arrivals will no longer have to undertake a post-arrival Lateral Flow test. Self-isolation and day 8 tests will also be removed for arrivals who are not recognised as fully vaccinated. Although the PLF will still be required for all travellers, it will also be simplified to reflect our more streamlined system.
The changes mean that the UK has one of the most free-flowing borders across Europe and the simplification of travel rules comes just before half term, providing welcome news for families looking to travel abroad during the school holidays, as well as an extra boost for the tourism industry.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of Merseyrail’s decision on passengers to reduce its timetable and increase fares on 4 January 2022 by 3.8 per cent.
Answered by Wendy Morton
No such assessment has been made because the timetable operated by Merseyrail and the fares charged are the subject to the agreement of Merseytravel to whom responsibility for these matters has been fully devolved since 2003.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of his Department’s anti-tampering proposals for motorcycles preventing activities such as restoration, repairs and legitimate improvements to vehicles; and if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the introduction of those proposals on the growth of enterprises producing anti-tampering parts for motorcycles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department ran a public consultation from 28 September to 22 November 2021 seeking views on proposals to tackle tampering. As part of the consultation, the Department sought views and evidence on the potential effect of proposals, which are not intended to prevent activities such as restoration, repairs and legitimate improvements to vehicles.
The Government will consider all responses received and undertake an assessment of the impact of any proposals that are taken forward.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to (a) tackle the backlog of enquires at the DVLA and (b) prioritise urgent cases relating to medical issues.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The quickest and easiest way to apply for a driving licence is by using the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s online service. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their licence within a few days.
However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application and the DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day. The DVLA understands the impact of delays on those who make paper applications and is working hard to process them as quickly as possible. To help reduce waiting times for paper applications, including where a medical condition must be investigated, the DVLA has introduced additional online services, recruited more staff, increased overtime working and has secured extra office space in Swansea and Birmingham.
The majority of applicants renewing an existing licence will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing the driver can meet specific criteria. More information can be found online here.
The DVLA recognises the impact on drivers who have to renew their licence more regularly and is working hard to improve the process. Drivers with diabetes, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, a visual impairment, a sleep condition or a heart condition can now renew their licence online.
The DVLA has also recently introduced a simplified licence renewal process for drivers with epilepsy and multiple sclerosis and is piloting this for some mental health conditions. This new renewal process has significantly reduced the need for the DVLA to seek further information from medical professionals and enabled more licensing decisions to be made based on the information provided by the driver. The DVLA is looking at adding more medical conditions to this new process.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the short-term impact on congestion levels in areas where Active Travel Fund projects have been implemented.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
None. It is for local authorities to manage their road networks appropriately, including by ensuring that changes to their road layouts are not having unintended impacts. As a condition of funding active travel schemes, the Department requires all local authorities to monitor and evaluate their impacts. The Government recently updated its Network Management Duty Guidance for local authorities, which includes advice to authorities on monitoring the traffic impacts of active travel schemes. The guidance is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reallocating-road-space-in-response-to-covid-19-statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities/traffic-management-act-2004-network-management-in-response-to-covid-19
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending the time within which a photo for a blue badge qualifies as recent to over one month, particularly for those aged 75 and over.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department has no plans to change current legislation relating to the specifications of photographs for use as identification on the UK Blue Badge.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of congestion levels in areas where Active Travel Fund projects have been implemented.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
It is for local authorities to manage their roads and to ensure that the active travel schemes they install are designed in such a way as to take into account the needs of all road users. The Department requires all local authorities to monitor and evaluate the impacts of their active travel schemes. It takes time, however, to understand the long-term impacts of new cycling infrastructure, both on rates of cycling and on the flow of other traffic. The Department has commissioned a formal national evaluation of the Active Travel Fund (ATF) which will consider this matter in some detail. A baseline report of schemes selected for evaluation is scheduled to be received by the Department in December 2022. This will be followed by a final report in late 2024.