Flybe

Gavin Robinson Excerpts

Thursday 5th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kelly Tolhurst]

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting the staff and some of the challenges. We are lucky today to have the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Mims Davies), on the Front Bench. She will roll out the rapid response service for those staff.

As I have outlined, Loganair has agreed to prioritise some of Flybe’s former staff. We will be working really hard with it and the rest of the industry to make sure that we can get those people into new jobs. Some of them are highly skilled and have great experience. We need to make sure that we find them new roles as soon as possible.

[Gavin Robinson (Belfast East) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister for taking the time to call me this morning and to extend her thoughts and offer support to all those affected at Belfast City airport and in the surrounding areas. She knows that Flybe catered for 67% of all passengers who travel through Belfast City airport and 80% of its total network, so this is hugely important.

I indicated to the Minister this morning that I believe that this a huge test for the Government. They have been large in their ambition when it comes to commitments on and the importance of regional connectivity, but light on detail and delivery. In recognising just how crucial regional connectivity is, will she assure us that the Chancellor—through air passenger duty—and other Departments will do all they can to make sure that we have the best conditions to not only support but grow regional connectivity, which is so crucial to our local economy?

[Kelly Tolhurst]

The hon. Gentleman knows that I am personally very interested in and care a lot about the Northern Ireland economy and some of the differences there compared with mainland UK. I reiterate that we are committed to regional connectivity, and I will work hard on that in this role. We had a manifesto commitment to consider the devolution of short-haul APD in Northern Ireland. We will work with the restored Northern Ireland Executive to consider any proposals submitted for the devolution of short-haul APD, and I stand ready to engage with Northern Irish colleagues at any time to take particular issues forward.

Car Insurance: Young People

Gavin Robinson Excerpts

Monday 20th March 2017 Westminster Hall

[Steve Double]

I am grateful for that intervention. I was not aware of the points made by the hon. Gentleman. I certainly bow to his knowledge in this area. He has made his points well.

Although the Government cannot intervene directly in the setting of premiums, they can help to establish a situation in which young and newly qualified drivers are better equipped for a life of independent driving. Accordingly, the Government have taken forward a programme of measures to strengthen the way in which people learn to drive and are tested, and to provide opportunities for additional training for newly qualified drivers.

We have also engaged insurers in the process so that they can have confidence that additional measures will make a real difference that can be rewarded. We are focusing our efforts on encouraging learner drivers to do more practice and to practise in a wider range of driving conditions; on ensuring that the driving test assesses the skills needed for today’s roads and vehicles and those of the future; and on identifying the most promising behavioural, educational and technological interventions that can reduce young driver casualties.

The Government’s road safety statement, published in December 2015, announced a £2 million research programme to identify the best possible interventions for learner and novice drivers. The road safety statement also conveyed the Government’s wider commitment to addressing concerns about motor insurance premiums for all drivers. It states:

“We will support innovation in the motoring insurance market so premiums become more responsive to safer driver behaviour and vehicle choice. This could include extending the ‘reward based’ insurance approach pioneered through young driver telematics products to the wider motoring community and fleets.”

In essence, insurance premiums reflect the risk of the potential claim both in terms of the number of claims and the cost of each claim. Claims from young drivers are typically four times higher than the average. The statistics are startling and throw into perspective why insurance costs are so high.

Research for the RAC Foundation showed that although teenage drivers make up only 1.5% of full licence holders, they are involved in 12% of accidents where someone is killed or seriously hurt. One in five newly qualified drivers will have an accident within six months of passing their test.

The European Commission notes that in developed countries traffic accidents are the main cause of death among 15 to 24-year-olds; the fatality rate for drivers in that age group is twice as high as that of more experienced drivers. Further, for every young driver killed in a crash, an average of 1.3 other people also die as passengers or other road users. Young drivers with passengers have greatly increased chances of being involved in serious and fatal accidents owing to factors such as peer pressure and over-confidence. Accidents involving young drivers are often caused by loss of control or speeding and are more likely to happen at night.

We must not lose sight of the fact that behind the high insurance premiums are these heartbreaking statistics—lives lost, life-limiting injuries and heartbroken families and friends. The issue is not only or even primarily about money; the real cost of young drivers is the lives lost and the families in mourning. Premiums can be prohibitively expensive, but of even greater concern to us should be the cause: novice drivers are much more likely to be involved in fatal accidents.

More must be done to address the reasons behind the high premiums and reduce the high accident rate among inexperienced drivers compared with the rest of the driving community. There are many avenues to explore in improving the accident toll and also valid ways of reducing premiums, including improved training and tuition, extending advertising and education around the perils and risks for young drivers, legislation to further penalise poor driving, and compulsory professional tuition. Manufacturers’ innovations and new technologies will also play an increasing role.

There are various ways in which novice drivers can reduce insurance premiums. For instance, Pass Plus is a practical training course that takes at least six hours and helps drivers to improve their skills and drive more safely. It can be taken at any time, although it should be most useful to new drivers in the year after passing their test. However, a more thorough overhaul is due, which I will come to later.

Another option to ease premiums is the addition of a named—usually older—driver with a clean licence and good accident-free record, who may make occasional use of the car and can reduce the overall premium. That is very different from the illegal practice known as “fronting”, where a low-risk driver fronts as the main user of the car when in fact it is predominantly used by the inexperienced driver.

[Gavin Robinson (Belfast East) (DUP)]

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way on that point. The consideration about whether what is involved is fronting or a useful tool to lower premiums often takes place after a collision. That is when the insurance company—in my view, unfairly and narrowly—looks at the circumstances. If it comes to the view that the person is fronting or has been fraudulent it cancels the policy and treats it as if it never existed. Insurance companies do not want it to be used as a mechanism to reduce premiums; they are trying to catch people out.

[Steve Double]

The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point. There are many pitfalls to the issue of fronting. The insurance industry should do more to address that issue at the beginning, rather than wait until there is a claim. Companies happily take the premiums before they address the problem. There is more that can be done to ensure that, when older drivers are put on policies, it is proper and legitimate.

Some insurers now offer telematics policies and fit a GPS-enabled transmitter to the car; I believe that smartphone app options are also available. Drivers under 21 who take out such a policy and have the appropriate equipment fitted are typically offered a 25% discount on the initial premiums. Such policies can also further reduce renewal premiums, as there is a record of where, when and how the car has been driven. High-risk driving behaviours are recorded by the technology and can cause renewal premiums to rise, whereas sensible driving can lead to a significant reduction in premiums.

One insurer, Marmalade, which operates a telematic policy, saw a dramatic improvement in the accident rates of novice drivers. On average, one in five new drivers makes a claim in the first six months, but with monitoring equipment in place, that number improved to one in 16—an outstanding and significant improvement. Telematics policies have been growing in number. In 2009, there were about 12,000, but the technology has become more widely known and continues to fall in price, making the policies more attractive: the number has risen quickly to more than 750,000 today.

Dash-cam technology can also be used to improve driving and can lead to a fall in the insurance price. Some insurers now offer lower costs—typically 10% lower —provided that a camera is fitted and is always activated when driving. That footage is made available should there be a claim. That irrefutable evidence can be very helpful, given that young drivers are sometimes blamed and bullied at the roadside for collisions that are not actually their fault, and there is often a presumption that the less experienced driver is at fault. Dash cams also have the effect of improving driving behaviour, as the driver knows there is a record of how the car has been driven.

Some households enter into a written agreement with the novice driver, in which behaviours such as careful, legal and considerate use of the car are set out. Both parties sign the agreement, which, although not legally binding, offers a clearly set out explanation and brings focus, consideration and thought to the very real responsibilities of driving safely. An example template can be found on the website brake.org.

As helpful and welcome as many of those things are, they fail to address the underlying issue. It is time for us to look at our system for obtaining a licence to drive. It is my view that in this country we teach people to pass the test, rather than educate and train them to become safe and competent drivers. Rhys Parker, the instigator of this petition, said to members of the Petitions Committee:

“if young people are so dangerous that the only way to get them to drive safely is forcing them to pay £200 for an advanced driving test, why don’t we just make the driving test better?”

I agree. I think he has a point.

The driving licence was first introduced in 1903, but there was no test requirement. The test was introduced in 1935, and although there have been some changes along the way, such as the introduction of the theory test in the mid-’90s, little has changed. In that time, vehicle technology has changed, cars have become much faster and we have gone from fewer than 1 million cars on our roads to more than 30 million.

The driving scene in our country has changed completely. I believe we need a better, more rigorous and comprehensive system of training and testing that is fit for our age and our roads. I suggest that passing the driving test should be seen not as a one-off, but as a process. Under what has become known as a graduated driving test, new drivers would have restrictions placed on their driving. For example, they would not be able to drive at night or on motorways, or carry more than one passenger, until they received further tuition, gained more experience and further proved their ability to drive.

Regional Airports

Gavin Robinson Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd February 2016 Westminster Hall

[Gavin Robinson (Belfast East) (DUP)]

I greatly appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the debate, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell), who summed up entirely appropriately the issues that frustrate and constrain regional aviation in this United Kingdom.

I am proud to have, in east Belfast, George Best Belfast City airport. Its provenance goes back to the second world war, the Sunderland flying boat was launched there in 1952, and the precursor to the Harrier jump jet was trialled in Belfast. On that site, with Bombardier, we are currently developing the C Series, which is an important tool for regional and small airports throughout the United Kingdom that need light, less noisy, as well as efficient and effective aircraft that can get in and out quickly. I am glad that London City airport is considering the C Series. When I was Lord Mayor of Belfast a number of years ago, the city airport was our unique selling point. A passenger can walk out of the arrivals lounge and be in the city centre in five minutes. No other regional airport has such connectivity to its city centre.

[Jim Shannon]

In my constituency it is 10 minutes.

[Gavin Robinson]

The Ards aerodrome has its place, and the kites that are flown there are of great significance.

We are constrained by a regressive and restrictive tax—air passenger duty—which has been fairly reflected on today. The devolution of the duty is the wrong course of action, but I am slightly concerned by the suggestion that we need further strategies and opportunities for the Government to consider what happens next. We need decisions. We have had the devolution of air passenger duty on long-haul flights in Northern Ireland. It sustains our only transatlantic flight from Belfast International airport, but it is not enough. I ask the Minister to reflect on that. In the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee we are currently considering air passenger duty and the variation of VAT on tourism and hospitality, and I hope that our report, when published, will form part of the Department for Transport’s current thinking.

[Tom Elliott]

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that Lord Empey’s Bill, the Airports Act 1986 (Amendment) Bill, currently in the House of Lords, will help to create rightful decisions that Heathrow must take regarding flights coming from regional airports?

[Gavin Robinson]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. The Government’s 2003 White Paper suggested that we needed to build up the regions to reduce congestion in London, but the truth is that by expanding what we have in the south-east of England we are constraining the regions. We need to give the regions a fruitful opportunity to expand, and to compete on a level playing field.

[Ms Ritchie]

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that Northern Ireland depends greatly on exports—particularly farm exports—and that we need a strong, sound regional airport with connectivity links to access global markets?

[Gavin Robinson]

The hon. Lady is entirely correct. We have as much transport among all our planes in Northern Ireland as we do in the capital, and regional aviation links are crucial for exports.

When something is going wrong or when someone is suffering an injustice or is unwell, we often say, “You would not wish it on your friends, never mind your enemies.” I am quite pleased that there is a threat for the north of England. I am quite pleased that there could be a disparity between APD in Scotland and APD in the north of England, because that would focus minds and attention on the issue. I do not wish to see that disparity, but I do wish to see greater recognition in the United Kingdom of the issues that for many years have been constraining us with the foreign border in Northern Ireland. If the danger that we have faced over decades is now facing those in the north-east of England and across the United Kingdom, that can only be a good thing, because there will be recognition of the dangers, damage and constraints of this pernicious tax on aviation. I hope we find a solution.

[Valerie Vaz (in the Chair)]

If the two Front-Bench spokespersons on the Opposition side take five minutes each, the Minister can have between seven and eight minutes, and I can then allow Catherine McKinnell to respond.

Airports Capacity

Gavin Robinson Excerpts

Monday 14th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

Oh, that was a good one; I will put that in my book.

As for the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Fylde (Mark Menzies), the important part of the Davies commission recommendations was having the extra capacity in place by 2030. I believe, given what I have said today, that we are on schedule to be able to deliver that extra capacity by 2030.

[Gavin Robinson (Belfast East) (DUP)]

As somebody who supports the expansion of Heathrow, let me indicate my frustration that progress has been caught up in an internal Conservative holding pattern. The Secretary of State has on three occasions this evening reiterated the commitment to the 2030 timescale. Will he assure us that in six months’ time a decision will not be taken to kick the can further down the road?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I have said that I hope to come back to the House in the summer. I am not going to say exactly when that will be from today’s date, but I fully accept the point that services to Northern Ireland are incredibly important. Northern Ireland is already well connected to London. There were around 17,000 flights between Belfast and London in 2014, of which about 6,000 were to Heathrow. I do not underestimate the importance of connectivity to London for Northern Ireland or indeed for Scotland.