Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Daniel Zeichner and Robert Courts

Thursday 17th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Robert Courts)]

The Government support the proportionate regulation of the sector and will shortly be consulting on guidance to licensing authorities on how they might best achieve that, while maintaining high standards in safety, accessibility and workers’ rights.

[Daniel Zeichner]

During the pandemic, the support available for taxi and private hire drivers around the country was patchy, and many experienced people have been lost to the sector. What assessment has been made of the situation and, in hindsight, what could have been done differently?

[Robert Courts]

I pay tribute to the sector for how it dealt with exceptionally challenging times during the pandemic; the hon. Gentleman is quite right to draw attention to that. These have been unparalleled and difficult times across the entirety of the economy. The key thing is that now we have one of the most open societies in the world because of the success of the vaccine roll-out. I am confident that the sector and the wider economy will bounce back.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Daniel Zeichner and Robert Courts

Thursday 11th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Robert Courts]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend about the impressive steps taken by the cruise industry in its covid-19 framework, which was published in October 2020. He is right to celebrate the immense financial and employment contribution of the cruise industry to the UK, including to the Southampton, Itchen constituency, for which he speaks so powerfully. I am pleased that domestic cruises in England will be able to restart under step 3 of the road map, which will be no earlier than 17 May. The restart of international cruises will be considered through the global travel taskforce report on 12 April. My hon. Friend is right that travel advice remains a matter for the FCDO, but he can be absolutely sure that my officials and I will continue to engage with that Department.

[Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)]

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the 2017 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough devolution deal on transport connectivity in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) Peterborough.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Daniel Zeichner and Robert Courts

Thursday 3rd December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)]

What assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on taxi and private hire vehicle drivers.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Robert Courts)]

The Government continue to engage with the sector to understand the effects of the covid-19 outbreak. Several support measures are available to support them through this challenging time, such as the self-employment income support scheme.

[Daniel Zeichner]

With over 350,000 licensed taxi and private hire drivers, this is the biggest employment group in the transport sector. As we speak, in London, electric cabs, which we all welcome, are being handed back because of inflexible finance deals. In every constituency, there will be hundreds of drivers laying up their vehicles. There are private tragedies going on here. What impact assessment have the Government actually done and when are they going to act?

[Robert Courts]

I acknowledge that this is an exceptionally challenging time for the industry, and the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to continue to raise that point. We continue to engage with the sector to understand how there may be some assistance. I particularly draw his attention to the fact that there is an online support finder tool that will assist those in the difficulty that he refers to.

--- Later in debate ---

[Robert Courts]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important point. The Department recognises that warm mix asphalt may provide environmental benefits, through energy saving, lowered emissions and providing increased durability. Authorities should use what they think is best to ensure that their roads are maintained and safe, while also addressing climate commitments.

[Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)]

With the mothballing of Crossrail 2, the four-tracking of routes out of London, through the innovation corridor, up to Stansted and Cambridge is at risk. Will the Minister look at separating out some of those schemes to ensure that we get the kind of reliability we need on those lines?

[Robert Courts]

We are happy to look at any scheme in detail in order to be assured that it is delivered in the safest, speediest and most practical way possible.