Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the potential impact on the reduction to CO2 emissions of the UK aviation sector switching to sustainable aviation fuels; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) can achieve lifecycle emissions savings of over 70% compared with conventional jet fuel, when fully replacing fossil kerosene.
The Jet Zero Strategy, published in July 2022, estimates that if SAF accounts for 10% of UK jet fuel supply, it could deliver a reduction of 2.41 Mt CO2 per year.
On 22 December the Department announced the five projects which will receive a share of the £165m Advanced Fuels Fund. The funding is available across three financial years, ending in 2024/2025.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff in his Department have been allocated to deal with issues related to international trade in (a) each of the past five years and (b) the next two years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In 2017, three members of DfT staff were directly working on international trade. In 2018 and 2019 the Department significantly expanded staff numbers allocated to this area. Since 2020 there has been a specific Trade Division in the International Directorate, with fourteen staff dedicated to these issues.
Many other staff in the Department have diverse work portfolios which include international trade as a part. It is not possible to quantify exactly how many officials overall work on international trade issues within DfT.
The Government will continue to monitor and provide for an appropriate level of resource to meet demand in this important area.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of holiday flights cancelled in an average year out of (a) Manchester, (b) Stanstead, (c) Gatwick and (d) Heathrow airport; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Monthly and annual data, up to March 2022, is available from the CAA on their website at https://www.caa.co.uk/data-and-analysis/uk-aviation-market/flight-punctuality/uk-flight-punctuality-statistics/.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of flights cancelled by each airline operating out of (a) Manchester, (b) Gatwick, (c) Stanstead and (d) Heathrow airport during the period from 26 May to 7 June 2022; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Data on the number of cancelled commercial flight operations is collected and published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as part of their flight punctuality statistics. The latest data currently published is for March 2022, and is available from https://www.caa.co.uk/data-and-analysis/uk-aviation-market/flight-punctuality/uk-flight-punctuality-statistics/. Data for May and June 2022 will be published by the CAA in due course.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to help ensure that the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency webchat facility is always available to the public; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The table below shows the average waiting time for customers to speak to a Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) agent by telephone in each of the last 12 months.
Month | Minutes |
May 22 | 10.5 |
April 22 | 12.4 |
March 22 | 14.5 |
February 22 | 18.0 |
January 22 | 13.2 |
December 21 | 9.9 |
November 21 | 9.1 |
October 21 | 7.3 |
September 21 | 8.7 |
August 21 | 9.8 |
July 21 | 9.9 |
June 21 | 13.2 |
The DVLA contact centre is actively recruiting and training additional staff to help reduce the waiting times for customers.
The DVLA has increased the number of services it offers through webchat, which can be accessed at any time. Advisors are available during the contact centre opening hours. The webchat services have been enhanced to use chatbots, which are also always available to help with general information. These are popular with customers as they reduce the time taken to deal with a query, many of which are answered without the need to speak to an advisor. In the last 12 months over 2 million customer enquiries have been answered either by a webchat advisor or by chatbot.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an estimate of the average time it took to answer calls to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency contact centre in the last 12 months; whether he plans to take steps to reduce call waiting times for customers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The table below shows the average waiting time for customers to speak to a Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) agent by telephone in each of the last 12 months.
Month | Minutes |
May 22 | 10.5 |
April 22 | 12.4 |
March 22 | 14.5 |
February 22 | 18.0 |
January 22 | 13.2 |
December 21 | 9.9 |
November 21 | 9.1 |
October 21 | 7.3 |
September 21 | 8.7 |
August 21 | 9.8 |
July 21 | 9.9 |
June 21 | 13.2 |
The DVLA contact centre is actively recruiting and training additional staff to help reduce the waiting times for customers.
The DVLA has increased the number of services it offers through webchat, which can be accessed at any time. Advisors are available during the contact centre opening hours. The webchat services have been enhanced to use chatbots, which are also always available to help with general information. These are popular with customers as they reduce the time taken to deal with a query, many of which are answered without the need to speak to an advisor. In the last 12 months over 2 million customer enquiries have been answered either by a webchat advisor or by chatbot.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of unladen lorries (a) entering the EU from the UK and (b) entering the UK from the EU in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The requested information is set out in the tables below. This information was sourced from the Port Freight statistics which can be found here (Annual statistics for UK port freight traffic for 2020) and here (Downloadable Excel file which summarises UK major port freight traffic statistics from 2000-2020).
Number of unladen lorries entering the EU from the UK | |
Year | Amount |
2010 | 669,316 |
2011 | 599,257 |
2012 | 653,738 |
2013 | 720,417 |
2014 | 751,798 |
2015 | 785,011 |
2016 | 802,465 |
2017 | 806,399 |
2018 | 742,517 |
2019 | 727,517 |
2020 | 666,304 |
In total from 2010-2020 this adds up to be 7,924,739 unladen vehicles entering the EU from the UK.
Number of unladen lorries entering the UK from the EU | |
2010 | 87,225 |
2011 | 69,076 |
2012 | 103,685 |
2013 | 99,367 |
2014 | 112,053 |
2015 | 67,256 |
2016 | 61,855 |
2017 | 71,008 |
2018 | 75,407 |
2019 | 80,783 |
2020 | 70,636 |
In total from 2010-2020 this adds up to be 898,351 unladen vehicles entering the UK from the EU.
Following EU Exit, the market access arrangements allow the vast majority of UK haulage journeys to and from the EU to continue as they did before the end of the transition period.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to (a) provide covid-related advice for travellers and (b) regulate pricing for travel-related PCR testing; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The UK removed all mandatory border health measures on 18 March and Gov.uk guidance has been updated. Passengers travelling from the UK should always check the latest FCDO Travel Advice which covers other countries’ entry requirements.
There are no post-arrival tests required for passengers entering the UK but the government’s focus will continue to be on ensuring that there is accuracy and transparency of pricing in the private testing market.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to reply to the enquiry from the hon. Member for Harrow West dated 15 March 2022 regarding his constituent's correspondence of 24 November 2021 and the reinstatement of a driving licence by the DVLA.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
A reply to the correspondence referred to was sent by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency on 25 March.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time spent waiting in traffic was for a haulier waiting to board a ferry at Dover in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department does not hold data on the average time spent by hauliers waiting in traffic to board a ferry at Dover. The Port of Dover operates a ‘turn up and go service’ meaning HGVs will be placed on to the first available ferry when they arrive at the Port. There may be an occasion when hauliers have to wait which may be due to peak periods of traffic at the Port. The Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) is responsible for traffic management in Kent.