Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to regulate use of e-scooters, including compulsory insurance cover on their use.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department is running trials of rental e-scooters to assess their safety and wider impacts. Some 32 trials are underway and will run across the year, with final trial schemes due to conclude by 31 March 2022. The evidence gathered during the trials will inform whether e-scooters should be legalised in the future and how we can ensure their use is as safe as possible. Until we have that evidence, we do not want to speculate on the future legal status of e-scooters or on specific issues like insurance.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made on facilitating international travel; and what plans they have (1) to clarify the status of countries on the green list, and (2) to reduce the cost of PCR tests.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Global Travel Taskforce outlined plans for the safe and sustainable reopening of international travel using a traffic light system. 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. Country categorisation is published on gov.uk.
The Government continues to work with the travel industry and private testing providers to further reduce testing costs, while ensuring travel is as safe as possible. The price of tests has reduced significantly over recent weeks, and several providers are offering Day 2 tests for green arrivals for under £50.