Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department and its agencies remove all internal covid-19 related policies, restrictions and mask mandates.

I can confirm that following the publication of the COVID-19 Response: Living with COVID-19 plan on 21 February the Department for Transport and its Agencies has taken steps to ensure our internal Covid-19 policies and principles align with the latest Government guidance.

This includes the Working Safely during Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance published on 24 February. This continues to require organisations to carry out a risk assessment which includes the risk from COVID-19. It also sets out additional actions organisations can take to protect employees and customers in the workplace, such as ensuring adequate ventilation, frequent cleaning, asking people to wash their hands frequently and asking people with COVID-19 to stay away. The guidance advises that people continue to wear face coverings in crowded and enclosed settings where they come into contact with people they do not normally meet, when rates of transmission are high.

These principles align with the current advice provided by the Department and will support and reassure our employees that they can continue to return to the workplace in a safe and controlled way. Our policies will be updated to reflect any further changes in Government advice. This includes where there may be differences in approach in the devolved administrations.