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 the viability of permitting e-scooter use (a) on roads, (b) on cycle lanes and (c) in other public spaces.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
In July 2020 the Department made regulations to enable trials of rental e-scooters to take place. The trials will allow us to assess the safety of e-scooters and their wider impacts, before deciding whether they should be more widely and permanently legalised. 32 trials are underway in England and will run across the year, with final trial schemes due to conclude by 31 March 2022. This is an extension to the original deadline of 30 November 2021. It takes into account the slower start to trials as a result of the pandemic and will allow us more time to gather evidence as lockdown eases.
E-scooters in trial areas are permitted on roads, cycle lanes and tracks where the local authority considers it safe to do so, but they are not permitted on the pavement or on motorways. We have a comprehensive national monitoring and evaluation programme in place which will allow us to assess the impact of e-scooters.
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 the Government is taking to support airport-based vehicle rental businesses over the next six months.
Answered by Robert Courts
The Government recognises the challenging circumstances aviation and associated business face as a result of Covid-19. Firms, across the economy, that are experiencing difficulties have been able to draw upon the unprecedented package of measures announced by the Chancellor. This includes support through loan guarantees, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
The extension of Government-backed loans and furlough payments announced at the Budget build on the support package available and will help ensure this vital and vibrant part of the UK economy is ready to bounce back in the wake of the pandemic.
We continue to take a flexible approach and keep all impacts and policies under review.
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 effect of reduced airline passenger numbers during the covid-19 outbreak on airport-based vehicle rental businesses (a) between March 2020 until May 2021 and (b) over the next six months.
Answered by Robert Courts
The Government recognises the challenging circumstances aviation and associated business face as a result of Covid-19. Firms, across the economy, that are experiencing difficulties have been able to draw upon the unprecedented package of measures announced by the Chancellor. This includes support through loan guarantees, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
The extension of Government-backed loans and furlough payments announced at the Budget build on the support package available and will help ensure this vital and vibrant part of the UK economy is ready to bounce back in the wake of the pandemic.
We continue to take a flexible approach and keep all impacts and policies under review.
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
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
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
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
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
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.