Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing (a) the application of the working time directive and (b) drivers' hours regulations for circumstances in which drivers are in remote areas but able to conclude their journey within a further short time window.

The retained EU drivers’ hours rules (Regulation (EC) 561/2006) and the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 are based on well-established international rules that ensure drivers of in scope vehicles are not required to drive and work excessively long hours. We have no current plans to review these rules to cover circumstances in which drivers are travelling in remote areas. Drivers and operators should plan journeys to ensure that they can be completed within the rules, including making allowances for required rest periods and typical traffic. We understand that drivers may be subject to unforeseeable events; in such circumstances, as long as road safety is not jeopardised, the retained EU drivers’ hours rules do permit a driver to temporarily extend their driving time to reach a suitable stopping place, to the extent necessary to ensure the safety of persons, of the vehicle or its load. In addition, changes to the retained EU drivers’ hours rules, which came into force in August 2020, now allow drivers, in exceptional circumstances, to extend their driving time up to two hours to reach their place of work or their home to take their weekly rest, again as long as road safety is not jeopardised. Drivers must note all the reasons for doing so on the back of their tachograph record sheets. The retained EU drivers’ hours rules already provide plenty of flexibility for drivers and also allow the Department to make temporary relaxations in urgent and exceptional circumstances.