Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many instances of drivers exceeding the limits set out in the retained EU drivers’ hours rules have been reported in January 2021 following the relaxation of enforcement of those rules.

For the temporary and limited relaxation of the enforcement of the retained EU drivers’ hours rules; which ended on 21 January 2021, the Department received 28 notifications from operators indicating that they may be using the domestic relaxation. To date only 5 operators have confirmed that they had actually used the relaxation, but the Department is seeking information from others.

The relaxations were extended to 31 March 2021, as risks to critical supply chains due to Covid-19 remain, and disruption to these supply chains could occur at very short notice. The Department has made it clear that the relaxations should only be used where necessary, otherwise the normal drivers’ hours rules are to be followed. To date the Department has received 9 notifications from operators indicating that they may be using the domestic relaxation.