Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to publish the data used to inform the covid-19 traffic light system to help the travel industry to plan for reopening.
Answered by Robert Courts
The traffic light system categorises countries based on risk to protect public health and the vaccine rollout from variants of COVID-19. The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) produces risk assessments of countries and territories. Decisions on Red, Amber or Green List assignment and associated border measures are taken by Ministers, who take into account the JBC risk assessments, alongside wider public health factors.
Key factors in the JBC risk assessment of each country include:
A summary of the JBC methodology is published on gov.uk, alongside key data that supports Ministers' decisions.
Ministers and officials have engaged extensively with the aviation and travel industries throughout the pandemic. We remain committed to an open engagement with the sector and continue to work with industry partners.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on whether any lives have been lost as a result of delays affecting emergency service vehicles that have been caused as a result of road closures to facilitate social distancing during the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Department has made no assessment of how the emergency services have been affected by the introduction of new road layouts. It is for local authorities to ensure that any changes they propose to make to road layouts are delivered in line with relevant legislation, and consultation and noticing requirements.
Where road closures require a Traffic Regulation Order, the emergency services must be consulted as part of the order-making process, to ensure any concerns are addressed and that access is maintained. Emergency services have been generally supportive of road layout changes, such as low-traffic neighbourhoods and, in some cases, their access has improved because narrow, unsuitable roads are no longer full of traffic.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to mandate the removal of temporarily imposed restrictions on road space for traffic introduced under emergency provisions during the covid-19 outbreak in the event that it is shown that those restrictions are causing deaths that would have been avoided without their imposition; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Department has made no assessment of how the emergency services have been affected by the introduction of new road layouts. It is for local authorities to ensure that any changes they propose to make to road layouts are delivered in line with relevant legislation, and consultation and noticing requirements.
Where road closures require a Traffic Regulation Order, the emergency services must be consulted as part of the order-making process, to ensure any concerns are addressed and that access is maintained. Emergency services have been generally supportive of road layout changes, such as low-traffic neighbourhoods and, in some cases, their access has improved because narrow, unsuitable roads are no longer full of traffic.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the average increase in journey times of emergency service vehicles that have been caused as a result of road closures to facilitate social distancing during the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Department has made no assessment of how the emergency services have been affected by the introduction of new road layouts. It is for local authorities to ensure that any changes they propose to make to road layouts are delivered in line with relevant legislation, and consultation and noticing requirements.
Where road closures require a Traffic Regulation Order, the emergency services must be consulted as part of the order-making process, to ensure any concerns are addressed and that access is maintained. Emergency services have been generally supportive of road layout changes, such as low-traffic neighbourhoods and, in some cases, their access has improved because narrow, unsuitable roads are no longer full of traffic.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to publish the Taxi and Private Hire Bill.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Government will continue to engage with the sector on our plans for reforming the regulation of taxis and private hire vehicles, including options to introduce new legislation. The Department is supporting licensing authorities to make use of their extensive existing powers through the recently issued Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards. The Department will consult on updated best practice guidance on other matters later this year.