Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on talks with his US counterpart on further opening up of international travel between the UK and the US since the G7 transport leaders conference.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
At the G7 in Carbis Bay, the Prime Minister and President Biden made clear the importance of bringing about the return of safe trans-Atlantic travel as soon as possible.
The UK/US Experts Working Group (EWG) has ambitious objectives and has established a productive dialogue. It will continue to meet regularly to develop meaningful options to ensure the return of safe and sustainable international travel.
The reopening of transatlantic travel to vaccinated US passengers reflects the impact of the US-UK EWG’s extensive activity to work through the detail of our respective inbound systems and provide the platform to kickstart the economy as we recover from the pandemic.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will publish in full the criteria used to inform the categorisation of countries in the covid-19 traffic light system.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Decisions on Red, Amber or Green List assignment and associated border measures are taken by Ministers, who take into account Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) risk assessments of countries and territories, alongside wider public health factors. Key factors in the JBC risk assessment of each country and territory include genomic surveillance capability, COVID-19 transmission risk and variant of concern transmission risk. A summary of the JBC methodology is published on gov.uk, alongside key data that supports Ministers' decisions
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of replacing covid-19 PCR tests with lateral flow tests for people arriving from amber list countries.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Testing remains a vital part of our borders regime to protect public health and prevent the importation of variants of concern. As only PCR tests can be used to identify variants of concern, they are required for tests on arrival in the UK. However, lateral flow tests can be used for pre-departure testing if they meet minimum performance standards.
The government keeps all measures under the review and the next formal review will take place by 1 October.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to accelerate the safe reopening of international travel to more destinations.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government continues to explore expanding our approach of opening up to other countries, where it is safe to do so and will work with international partners as we progress towards a safe, sustainable and robust return to international travel.
The government keeps all measures under the review and the next formal review will take place by 1 October.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to modernise the blue badge system to allow local authorities to give blue badge holders the option of registering their car with the scheme and enable parking enforcement wardens to check the registration plate for entitlement to park, rather than requiring a blue badge to be displayed.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Current legislation provides local authorities with the means to tackle abuse of the Blue Badge scheme locally, such as the power to retain and cancel badges found to be stolen. The Department for Transport continues to work closely with local authorities aiming to improve the consistency of local enforcement to tackle fraud and misuse of the Blue Badge Scheme by acting swiftly and sharing best practice. The Department keeps the Blue Badge scheme under review and is always looking to identify potential ways to develop and improve the scheme over time to make it better for the user.
Some local authorities also offer Blue Badge holders living and working in their area the option to apply for a local disabled driver parking permit, meaning the Blue Badge is not on display while the motorist is parked in their local area.
At present, a Blue Badge can be used in any vehicle in which the badge holder is travelling and must only be displayed where the parking concessions are being used or while the badge holder is travelling in the vehicle, ensuring that enforcement officers can carry out their duties. This is a requirement of the Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on tackling theft of blue badges from cars.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Current legislation provides local authorities with the means to tackle abuse of the Blue Badge scheme locally, such as the power to retain and cancel badges found to be stolen. The Department for Transport continues to work closely with local authorities aiming to improve the consistency of local enforcement to tackle fraud and misuse of the Blue Badge Scheme by acting swiftly and sharing best practice. The Department keeps the Blue Badge scheme under review and is always looking to identify potential ways to develop and improve the scheme over time to make it better for the user.
Some local authorities also offer Blue Badge holders living and working in their area the option to apply for a local disabled driver parking permit, meaning the Blue Badge is not on display while the motorist is parked in their local area.
At present, a Blue Badge can be used in any vehicle in which the badge holder is travelling and must only be displayed where the parking concessions are being used or while the badge holder is travelling in the vehicle, ensuring that enforcement officers can carry out their duties. This is a requirement of the Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce the cost of covid-19 testing for people wishing to travel to green list countries.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
We are working with the travel industry and private testing providers to see how we can further reduce costs for the British public while ensuring travel is as safe as possible. We are considering a range of options including cheaper tests being used when passengers return home. The price of tests has reduced significantly in recent weeks, with some providers offering testing packages for green arrivals starting at £43.