Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussion he has had with officials in South Africa on South Africa's covid-19 red travel list designation.
Answered by Robert Courts
South Africa was removed from the red list at 4am on Monday 11 October.
The UK government regularly engages with countries affected by red listing including South Africa.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support learner drivers whose receipt of a provisional drivers licence has been affected by delays at the Driver and Vehicle License Agency.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services have been available throughout the pandemic and are the quickest and easiest way to renew a driving licence. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their driving licence within a few days.
To enable more customers to apply online for a provisional driving licence the DVLA has introduced changes to the service. Since 24 June, customers applying for their provisional driver’s licence can upload their signature for the first time and track or update their application.
However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application for a driving licence. The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day which must be dealt with in person. Ongoing industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union, along with fewer operational staff on site to allow for social distancing in line with Welsh Government requirements and an increased demand for its services has led to delays in dealing with paper applications. The DVLA has leased an additional building to accommodate more operational staff.
Currently, paper applications are likely to take between six and ten weeks to process. There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example, if medical investigations are needed as part of a driving licence application. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will work with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs to ensure that covid-19-related guidance for travel issued by that Department is in-line with the guidance issued by his Department via its travel lists.
Answered by Robert Courts
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) travel advice, and the “traffic light" country allocation system are two independent processes based on different risks.
FCDO travel advice considers the risk to British nationals travelling overseas, while measures at the UK border aim to mitigate the overall risk to UK public health of inbound travel to the UK.
Passengers are advised to check foreign travel advice for the country or territory they wish to travel to and the rules for testing and quarantine on return to England before they book any foreign travel.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what percentage of 2019 outbound travel passenger flows do destinations on the covid-19 green list represent.
Answered by Robert Courts
Data collected by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) shows that countries and territories which are currently on the green list accounted for 7% of departing international air passengers on direct flights handled at UK airports in 2019.
There were no direct sea or international rail passenger services in 2019 between the UK and countries or territories that are currently on the green list.
This analysis is based on countries and territories on the green list for COVID-19 as of 04:00 hours on Wednesday 30 June 2021.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the annual cost to the Government was to operate the outgoing railways franchise model in each of the last five years.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Office of Rail and Road publishes annual statistics on the finances of the rail industry in the UK, which show the value of the Government’s financial support provided in each financial year. The publication provides data up to and including the 2019/20 financial year and is available on the following link at:
https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/finance/rail-industry-finance.
The previous commercial model for rail franchising was superseded in March 2020 (at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK) with the introduction of Emergency Measures Agreements with train operators. Under those agreements, and their successors, most financial risk on franchised passenger train operations has been borne by the Government.
The Department published statistics on operational support payments, and fees paid to operators, under the new arrangements that have applied since March 2020. The most recent published data covers the period until early February 2021 and is available on the Government website at:
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the annual running costs of Great British Railways from 2023 when all franchises will have ended.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Transformation on this scale cannot happen overnight. The government is setting up a Rail Transformation Programme within the department and the rail industry to establish a common understanding of the vision, set out the phases of delivery and work collectively with the sector to design and implement this major programme. As a respected leader in the sector, Andrew Haines has been asked to develop plans for establishing interim arrangement, drawing on expertise across industry and beyond.
Great British Railways will be able to make substantial net savings without detriment to service or fare levels by reducing duplication, interface costs and complexity. Savings from reform will take several years to realise, but industry experts suggest that after an initial five-year implementation period, substantial annual costs savings could be achieved.
We will make an announcement on next steps in relation to setting up Great British Railways in due course.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the set-up costs of Great British Railways.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Transformation on this scale cannot happen overnight. The government is setting up a Rail Transformation Programme within the department and the rail industry to establish a common understanding of the vision, set out the phases of delivery and work collectively with the sector to design and implement this major programme. As a respected leader in the sector, Andrew Haines has been asked to develop plans for establishing interim arrangement, drawing on expertise across industry and beyond.
Great British Railways will be able to make substantial net savings without detriment to service or fare levels by reducing duplication, interface costs and complexity. Savings from reform will take several years to realise, but industry experts suggest that after an initial five-year implementation period, substantial annual costs savings could be achieved.
We will make an announcement on next steps in relation to setting up Great British Railways in due course.