Asked by: Jackie Doyle-Price (Conservative - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to remove his Department's advice against travelling on cruises for countries that are given green status under the covid-19 traffic light system.
Answered by Robert Courts
The Global Travel Taskforce (GTT) report confirms that international cruises will restart alongside the wider restart of international travel in line with the “traffic light” system. Operators will need to take account of the country traffic light system when planning itineraries. The restart of international cruises will be subject to continued satisfactory evidence from domestic restart and cruising in other countries. This will be considered at each of the GTT checkpoint reviews, with the next taking place on 28 June. International restart is also subject to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the UK government and industry covering the cost and liabilities of repatriation.
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) travel advice is a separate matter for the Foreign Secretary. My officials and I continue to work closely with the cruise industry, the FCDO, UK Health Security Agency and across Government to ensure a safe restart of international cruises from the UK.
Asked by: Jackie Doyle-Price (Conservative - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of amending his Department's covid-19 advice on travel for cruising so that it aligns with advice for the aviation sector.
Answered by Robert Courts
The Global Travel Taskforce (GTT) report confirms that international cruises will restart alongside the wider restart of international travel in line with the “traffic light” system. Operators will need to take account of the country traffic light system when planning itineraries. The restart of international cruises will be subject to continued satisfactory evidence from domestic restart and cruising in other countries. This will be considered at each of the GTT checkpoint reviews, with the next taking place on 28 June. International restart is also subject to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the UK government and industry covering the cost and liabilities of repatriation.
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) travel advice is a separate matter for the Foreign Secretary. My officials and I continue to work closely with the cruise industry, the FCDO, UK Health Security Agency and across Government to ensure a safe restart of international cruises from the UK.
Asked by: Jackie Doyle-Price (Conservative - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what evidential threshold will be used when reviewing the travel status of foreign countries under the covid-19 traffic light system.
Answered by Robert Courts
Decisions on red, amber and green list countries are taken by Ministers, who take into account risk assessments produced by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), alongside wider public health factors.
Key factors in the JBC risk assessment of each country include:
A summary of the JBC methodology used to produce risk assessments is published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Jackie Doyle-Price (Conservative - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the additional investment which would be required at junction 30 of the M25 for the Lower Thames crossing options A and C.
Answered by John Hayes
The Department for Transport’s initial estimate of the additional investment that may be required at junction 30 of the M25 for the Lower Thames crossing options A and C was published on 15th July 2014, and is available on the Department’s website at: