Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of omicron covid-19 variant on the travel sector; and whether he has had discussions with (a) officials in his Department and (b) Cabinet colleagues on sector specific economic support measures.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government recognises the challenging times facing the international travel sectors due to COVID-19. Additional temporary testing measures introduced in response to the Omicron variant have helped prevent additional cases of Omicron from entering the UK. Government recognises the impact these temporary health measures have had on the travel and aviation industry, and they were updated on 5 January.
Since the start of the pandemic, we estimate that the air transport sector (airlines, airport and related services) will have benefitted from around £8bn of government support.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has had discussions with EU officials on sharing vehicle keepers' details for the purpose of enforcing driving fines.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Officials of the Department for Transport have had no such discussions on this issue with officials of the EU since the UK fully left the EU.
While the UK was a member of the EU, the UK electronically provided vehicle keeper data to EU Member States who enquired about vehicles who committed certain traffic offences. This was facilitated under the EU Cross-Border Enforcement Directive (CBE). The UK only used the outbound mechanism of CBE, meaning that we responded to enquiries from Member States, but we never sought to obtain the equivalent information from them about their nationals driving in the UK. Since leaving the EU, the UK is no longer obliged to provide vehicle keeper data to requesting EU Member States through this mechanism.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on levels of road safety of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Transport does not anticipate any effects on road safety in the UK as a result of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with stakeholders on the potential merits of extending the bus recovery scheme beyond the current financial year due to the shortage of PSV drivers.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government is closely monitoring the shortage of PSV drivers, and is committed to working with the bus sector to encourage new entrants to the bus driving profession.
Through the Coronavirus Bus Service Support Grant (CBSSG), over £1.5 billion in emergency support was provided to the sector. Additionally, £226.5 million in recovery funding will be made available through the Bus Recovery Grant (BRG). The Government remains in discussion with stakeholders to ensure funding challenges in the sector are addressed.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials have had with local authorities to assess the impact of the shortage of PSV drivers on school (i) transport and (ii) budgets in England in the last year.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Transport has engaged with multiple Local Authorities on this issue, primarily through engagement with the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) and, the Urban Transport Group (UTG).
Our colleagues in DfE are also speaking regularly to their contacts in local authority school transport teams about this issue.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with industry experts and stakeholders on the potential merits of telematic technology being regulated and independently verified.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
No discussions have taken place on the possibility of telematic technology being regulated and independently verified. Vehicles are not required by law to be fitted with a telematic technology.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has been made on the reliability of Telematic technology used in black boxes.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government has not made an assessment of the reliability of telematic technology used in black boxes.
Vehicles are not required by law to be fitted with a black box telematic device. The reliability of such equipment for insurance purposes is a matter for the policy provider.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to make the final announcement on the Green Fuels, Green Skies Competition following the shortlisting announcement on 23 July 2021.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We will announce the final funding grants awarded to winners of the Green Fuels Green Skies competition shortly.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with EU officials on the potential impact of the 90 in 180 day rule on UK citizens working in the EU.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Visa and work permit arrangements for the purpose of undertaking paid work is a matter for individual EU Member States. Since these rules are set by individual Member States, it is not a matter that the Department has discussed recently with EU officials.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the experience following the UK's departure from the EU of light haulage and express couriers who operate across the EU.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) allows EU hauliers to continue to operate to, from, through and within the UK without the need for permits. The TCA ensures that the vast majority of journeys will continue as they did before the end of the transition period.
The implementation of changes contained in the TCA, which will be introduced during 2022, will include some changes for the light haulage sector in the scope of shared rules for international transport related to operator licensing. This has been discussed cross-departmentally.