Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact of the availability of the Driving Mobility Assessments on people receiving a vehicle as part of the Motability scheme.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Motability scheme enables disabled people, their families and carers to lease a car using their disability benefit. The scheme is overseen by the independent charity Motability, and is not the responsibility of the Department for Transport.
The Department provides funding for the mobility centres across England which provide driving, passenger and wheelchair and scooter assessments. Driving Mobility, the charity which manages and accredits the centres, has a service level agreement in place with Motability for the provision of these assessments, and has reported no current issues with their availability.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to tackle the shortage of HGV drivers; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing drivers to convert HGV licences obtained in Australia, and other countries, for use in the UK.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We have taken decisive action to address the acute HGV driver shortage, with 30 specific measures taken by the Government already. These include providing support and training for new HGV drivers, expanding HGV driver testing capacity and improving licencing processes. We are also investing £32.5 million in improving roadside facilities for hauliers. We will continue to encourage the road haulage industry to make employment as an HGV driver more attractive.
The exchange of HGV licences for a UK equivalent is dependent on training, testing and licensing standards in the issuing country being equivalent to those in the UK. Applications for recognition are subject to assessment of testing and licensing standards, public consultation, introduction of legislation and agreement of reciprocity. Currently only EU/EEA, Swiss, Crown Dependency and Gibraltar HGV licences are recognised for exchange in the UK.
Our points-based immigration system makes clear that employers should focus on investing in our domestic workforce, rather than relying on labour from abroad.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of road traffic fatalities where current legislation has prevented the perpetrator from being convicted.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Transport does not hold this information.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to extend the expiry date of driving theory test certificates for people who have been unable to take a practical driving test as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a candidate’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it.
It is important road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time. Those with theory test certificates expiring now will have taken their test in early 2019. Since then, they have been unable to take lessons and practice for long periods of time, and not at all during recent lockdowns. It is difficult to maintain knowledge and understanding of driving theory at the level required during that time without being able to put it into practice. Research suggests that this would be particularly harmful for hazard perception skills, a key factor in road safety.
Ensuring new drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the preparation of new drivers, who are disproportionality represented in casualty statistics. Learners will therefore need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason there are delays in the reissuing of driving licences by the DVLA to (a) people aged over 70 and (b) in cases where licences have been suspended for health reasons which are preventing those people from driving.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services, including renewals for drivers over 70 are available and have continued to operate as normal throughout the pandemic.
DVLA is currently working with reduced staff on its site in Swansea to meet social distancing requirements. Paper applications are therefore taking longer to process as they must be dealt with in person.
As healthcare professionals are rightly focused on their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the DVLA is experiencing delays where information is needed from medical professionals in order to make a licensing decision where a driver has declared a medical condition.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with representatives of the International Airlines Group on the proposed redundancies at British Airways.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department for Transport is in regular contact with airlines, airports and unions to understand the impact that COVID-19 is having on the sector and its workers. However, we do not comment on discussions held with individual companies, as this information is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) other Cabinet colleagues on Government support for airlines and the aviation industry.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department has been working closely with the aviation sector and HM Treasury to produce and support measures which will ensure there is sufficient capacity to protect global travel routes, continue repatriation, freight and maintain vital connectivity. The Secretary of State is regularly meeting with his Cabinet colleagues including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in addition to the many more meetings attended by Junior Ministers and DfT Officials to help achieve these goals.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with trades unions representing employees in the aviation industry on safeguarding employment in that sector.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department for Transport has regular calls with trade unions at both ministerial and official level. These calls cover a wide range of issues, including the safeguarding of employment for employees in the aviation industry.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to prevent (a) share buybacks, (b) the payment of dividends and (c) capital contributions from the date of Government loans to UK aviation companies until 12 months after those loans have been repaid in full; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Bespoke financial support will only be considered as a last resort, once all other options have been exhausted.
Terms for any bespoke financial support would be structured to protect taxpayers’ interest, and the Government would expect to have regard to factors including but not limited to whether the business makes a material contribution to the economic activity of the UK, and the equitable and fair treatment across businesses in the sector.
Any bespoke support would need to represent value for money. Any Government support would also need to comply with current State aid rules.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the 14-day at-home quarantine for passengers arriving at UK airports compared with testing passengers for covid-19 upon arrival at those airports.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The scientific advice shows that when domestic transmission is high, imported cases represent a small amount of the overall total and they make no significant difference to the epidemic. However, this can change when the domestic transmission/rate of infection is low, and people are arriving from countries with a higher rate of infection.
Now that domestic transmission within the UK is coming under control, and other countries begin to lift lockdown measures, it is the right time to prepare new measures at the border, including self-isolation.
The Government and SAGE do not currently advise virus testing for asymptomatic people, either domestically or at the border, apart from in certain settings, such as hospitals, care homes, and prisons.