Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of how the limited number of countries being given green light status during the covid-19 outbreak will affect the aviation, travel and tourism industries.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government recognises the challenging circumstances facing the aviation industry and wider tourism sector because of Covid-19. Firms experiencing difficulties can draw upon the unprecedented package of measures announced by the Chancellor.
We continue to take a flexible approach and keep all impacts and policies under review. Ongoing engagement with the sector is critical for the Government to be prepared and able to react in a timely manner.
In total, we estimate that the air transport sector (airlines, airports and related services) has benefited from around £7bn of Government support since the start of the pandemic. This includes support through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department’s traffic light system for reopening international travel will include an island policy to reopen routes to relatively low risk regions of nations as was implemented in Summer 2020.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government will take an island approach for border measures where possible.
Changes to the traffic light country system will be reviewed and implemented every three weeks, unless concerning evidence means we need to act faster to protect public health.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to publish the criteria being used for the traffic light system for reopening international travel including the assigning of countries to the amber list.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
A summary of the JBC methodology used to produce risk assessments for the “traffic light” country system is published on gov.uk, alongside key data that supports Ministers' decisions. It can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-risk-assessment-methodology-to-inform-international-travel-traffic-light-system/risk-assessment-methodology-to-inform-international-travel-traffic-light-system
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made on the effect of the severe downturn in the aviation industry due to the covid-19 outbreak on the wider economy.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Before Covid-19, aviation directly contributed at least £22 billion to GDP to the UK economy and supported around half a million jobs. This included the air transport and aerospace sectors, as well as the wider supply chain. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the aviation sector has been one of the worst affected sectors in the UK. Passenger numbers at UK airports fell by 99% at the height of the pandemic. Overall volumes of flight traffic in the UK is currently around 80% below equivalent 2019 levels. The air transport sector’s contribution to the UK economy dropped by 74% in 2020 compared to 2019 and tens of thousands of redundancy notifications have been made. In addition to the direct impact to the UK air transport sector, the wider supply-chain and economy has also been adversely impacted by the severe reduction in air passenger demand, jobs and air connectivity, with impacts on consumer spending and investment across the rest of the economy.
The Department recognises the severe impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on travel, and work continues to understand how best the industry can be supported at this time. The Government is working on a strategic framework for the recovery of the sector. It will explore the return to growth of the aviation sector, and will include consideration of workforce and skills, regional connectivity, noise, innovation and regulation, and consumer issues.
Aviation businesses have access to the unprecedented economic support package that the Chancellor has put in place to help businesses to manage the challenges they are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to this, the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS) opened for applications on 29 January to provide support for eligible commercial airports and ground handlers in England.
Through the Global Travel Taskforce, the Government will work closely with the industry to find ways to safely and gradually ease restrictions on international travel. We will set out more detail on this soon.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to introduce a stimulus package to incentivise new air routes after covid-19 travel restrictions are eased.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department recognises the severe impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on travel, and work continues to understand how best the industry can be supported at this time. The Government is working on a strategic framework for the recovery of the sector. It will explore the return to growth of the aviation sector, and will include consideration of workforce and skills, regional connectivity, noise, innovation and regulation, and consumer issues.
Aviation businesses have access to the unprecedented economic support package that the Chancellor has put in place to help businesses to manage the challenges they are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Firms can continue to draw upon the package of measures announced by the Chancellor, including a Bank of England scheme for firms to raise capital, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, Time to Pay flexibilities with tax bills, financial support for employees including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and VAT deferrals.
In addition to this, the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS) opened for applications on 29 January to provide support for eligible commercial airports and ground handlers in England. It will provide support up to the equivalent of their business rates liabilities or COVID-19 losses – whichever is lower – in the 2020/21 financial year, subject to certain conditions and a cap per claimant of £8m.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the UK’s existing regional aviation network.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government recognises the challenges faced by the aviation sector at this time. It remains committed to supporting regional connectivity across all transport modes, including the importance of maintaining a thriving and competitive aviation sector in UK to deliver connectivity. Through policies like Public Service Obligations the Department for Transport subsidises routes into London.
The Government is working on a strategic framework for the recovery of the sector. It will explore the return to growth of the aviation sector, and will include consideration of workforce and skills, regional connectivity, noise, innovation and regulation, and consumer issues.
In addition, the Union Connectivity Review will make recommendations on how the UK government can level up transport infrastructure and improve connectivity between the four nations, looking at road, rail, air and sea links.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to support the aviation sector to increase connectivity to pre-covid-19 pandemic levels.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Department recognises the severe impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on travel, and work continues to understand how best the industry can be supported at this time. The Government is working on a strategic framework for the recovery of the sector. It will explore the return to growth of the aviation sector, and will include consideration of workforce and skills, regional connectivity, noise, innovation and regulation, and consumer issues.
In addition, through the Global Travel Taskforce, the Government will work closely with the industry to find ways to safely and gradually ease restrictions on international travel. We will set out more detail on this soon.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the economic effect of the covid-19 outbreak on (a) regional airports compared with other airports and (b) the Government's levelling up agenda.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government recognises the challenges faced by the aviation sector at this time. The Government is committed to maintaining critical connectivity and through policies like Public Service Obligations the Department for Transport subsidises routes into London.
We have also taken action to support airports through the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS). This opened for applications on 29 January to provide support for eligible commercial airports and ground handlers in England. It will provide support up to the equivalent of their business rates liabilities or COVID-19 losses – whichever is lower – in the 2020/21 financial year, subject to certain conditions and a cap per claimant of £8m.
The Government is keen to find ways to work closely with the industry to ease restrictions on international travel gradually and sustainably. The Secretary of State for Transport will lead a successor to the Global Travel Taskforce to develop a framework that can facilitate greater travel when the time is right, while still managing the risk from imported cases and variants.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what economic forecasts his Department has made of recovery and growth in the (a) air transport and (b) travel sectors.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
DfT has not produced economic forecasts of recovery and growth in the air transport or travel sectors. DfT maintain a capability to produce a range of passenger demand scenarios, reflecting the uncertainty surrounding the potential shape of recovery, for internal use.
The Department recognises the severe impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on travel, and work continues to understand how best the industry can be supported at this time. The Government is working on a strategic framework for the recovery of the sector. It will explore the return to growth of the aviation sector, and will include consideration of workforce and skills, regional connectivity, noise, innovation and regulation, and consumer issues.
Aviation businesses have access to the unprecedented economic support package that the Chancellor has put in place to help businesses to manage the challenges they are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to this, the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS) opened for applications on 29 January to provide support for eligible commercial airports and ground handlers in England.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the loss of air routes in Europe on the UK’s ability to trade with Europe.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The new UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) does not place any restriction on air services between points in the UK and points in the EU, ensuring that UK-EU trade can continue to travel freely by air. Furthermore, the TCA recognises that, at their discretion, EU Member states may permit UK airlines to operate non-scheduled air services within and beyond the EU. The TCA also allows the UK and individual EU Member States to negotiate and agree a bilateral exchange of additional “5th Freedom” all-cargo rights. My officials are engaging closely with EU Member States and with industry on these matters.