Found: rebuild local economies which could comprise carefully 14 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/world-travel-coronavirus-covid19

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of international travel from China on trends in the level of covid-19 in the UK.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

We are monitoring the situation in China carefully following the increase in cases and the easing of entry requirements to China on 8 January. Ministers have received regular updates from the UK Health Security Agency on the potential impact of this on the United Kingdom.

There remains a concern that limited data being provided by China means a new variant of COVID-19 may emerge and begin circulating undetected. The Government has therefore taken action, requiring pre-departure testing for arrivals from China and introducing arrivals testing to enable sequencing of COVID-19 positive tests for a proportion of passengers on direct flights from China to Heathrow Airport. The best defence against COVID-19 remains vaccination, and the Government continues to encourage those eligible to get their boosters.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to help people who are owed refunds by covid-19 travel testing companies that have ceased operations.

Answered by Maggie Throup

Where a customer service issue with a private testing provider arises, this should be raised directly with the provider. The terms and conditions of sale provide further information on consumers’ rights. Where this cannot be resolved by the provider, guidance on consumer rights is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/consumer-protection-rights

In specific circumstances, the Department will support the relevant regulatory bodies, such as Trading Standards, to investigate the provider.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment the Government has made of the potential effectiveness of creating a market for covid-19 travel testing in helping to ensure a domestic testing capacity.

Answered by Maggie Throup

No specific assessment has been made. Due to the separate domestic and international travel markets, testing in the international travel market would not affect domestic testing capacity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Competition and Markets Authority report entitled, CMA Rapid Review of PCR testing for travel, published in August 2021, on what date his Department responded to that Report's recommendations; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Maggie Throup

Due to the evolving nature of this policy, the Department did not issue a written response to the Competitions and Markets Authority’s (CMA) report. However, officials met with the CMA on 27 September 2021 to discuss the Department’s response to the CMA’s recommendations and the proposed changes to international travel testing from polymerase chain reaction testing to lateral flow device testing (LFD). On 23 December 2021, officials met with the CMA in light of the transition to LFD testing and the emerging Omicron variant. A further meeting was held in spring 2022.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to (a) provide covid-related advice for travellers and (b) regulate pricing for travel-related PCR testing; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The UK removed all mandatory border health measures on 18 March and Gov.uk guidance has been updated. Passengers travelling from the UK should always check the latest FCDO Travel Advice which covers other countries’ entry requirements.

There are no post-arrival tests required for passengers entering the UK but the government’s focus will continue to be on ensuring that there is accuracy and transparency of pricing in the private testing market.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that delivery of day two covid-19 PCR tests are not affected by the disruption to postal services over the Christmas period.

Answered by Maggie Throup

For day two polymerase chain reaction tests, the UK Health Security Agency worked with delivery partners to ensure that this service was available over the Christmas period. Contingency plans were also in place to cope with any adverse weather conditions. Where tests are purchased from private test providers, the delivery of the service, including appropriate logistics and contingency planning around disruption, is the responsibility of the private provider.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many travellers who completed a passenger locator form and entered England from a non-red list country since 24 October failed to complete a day 2 lateral flow COVID-19 test; what percentage of the total number of such travellers entering England this figure represents; and what steps they have taken as a result.

Answered by Lord Kamall

This information is not held in the format requested.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many private companies offering COVID-19 PCR tests for those returning to England from abroad have been reported for failing to meet the two-day test result return requirement from November 2021 to date; and how many of these companies have since been removed from the Government website.

Answered by Lord Kamall

We closely monitor the performance of private providers, including delivery and testing services. Those providing inadequate services receive a warning allowing the company to demonstrate it has rectified its service or it is removed from the GOV.UK list. Private providers may be reinstated to the list once they have undertaken corrective action and provided the Department with such evidence.

The information requested on the number of companies which have failed to meet the two day requirement is not currently available, as this data is not yet centrally validated. No providers have been removed as a direct result of failing to meet the two-day test result return requirement alone. All providers have a legal requirement to report on a daily basis to achieve all minimum standards, which includes the returning of test results within two days.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what mechanisms they have in place, if any, to check that results from COVID-19 PCR tests provided by private companies for those entering England from abroad meet the public health requirement to return test results within two days.

Answered by Lord Kamall

We closely monitor the performance of private providers, including delivery and testing services. Those providing inadequate services receive a warning allowing the company to demonstrate it has rectified its service or it is removed from the GOV.UK list. Private providers may be reinstated to the list once they have undertaken corrective action and provided the Department with such evidence.

The information requested on the number of companies which have failed to meet the two day requirement is not currently available, as this data is not yet centrally validated. No providers have been removed as a direct result of failing to meet the two-day test result return requirement alone. All providers have a legal requirement to report on a daily basis to achieve all minimum standards, which includes the returning of test results within two days.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what basis the Government had made the decision of requiring a PCR test for those who have had covid-19 in the last 90 days, upon arriving in the UK, while the advice pre-departure had been to do an LFT as a PCR could show positive.

Answered by Maggie Throup

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were required for those with COVID-19 infection in the last 90 days to identify not only those with the virus but also new variants which may have been acquired overseas. Positive PCR tests for arrivals were sequenced to understand potential emerging variants. Recent infection and associated immunity is not associated with a residual positive PCR.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to help strengthen public confidence in international travel during 2022.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Following the changes to international travel implemented on 11 February, including the removal of all testing requirements for eligible vaccinated passengers, reducing measures for all other passengers, and recognising vaccine certificates from over 180 countries and territories, the UK now has one of the most open and streamlined COVID-19 border regimes in the world. Furthermore, my Rt Hon Friend the Transport Secretary is also looking at removing the Passenger Locator Form as soon as possible.

The Government has also committed to developing a contingency toolkit, to be set out ahead of Easter, with new border health measures only implemented in extreme circumstances where necessary to protect public health against COVID-19 variants.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to assess the recovery of the travel sector from the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Since the international travel changes implemented on 11 February, the UK now has one of the most open and streamlined COVID-19 border regimes in the world. While the recovery has begun, many challenges remain. That is why, in addition to the regular monitoring of key recovery metrics, the Government continues to engage with businesses across the travel sector to understand ongoing challenges to growth and recovery. The Government is also working on a strategic framework for the aviation sector which will focus on building back better and ensuring a successful UK sector for the future.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the process for removing businesses from the list of PCR test providers for travel on the gov.uk website in the event that those providers do not meet the criteria they have set for delivery and process times of PCR tests.

Answered by Maggie Throup

We continuously monitor and assess the adequacy of the process for removing private providers, including delivery and testing services, to ensure a high-quality service to customers.

Since the start of the travel testing programme, we have refined the process for identifying where providers have not met our standards for the delivery and processing of polymerase chain reaction testing.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of travellers who have been unable to complete the passenger locator form for a return journey to the UK, in the context of there being a 48 hour window for people to complete that form before arriving in the UK, because they did not have access to the internet.

Answered by Kevin Foster

Current regulations require transport operators to check all passengers have completed the Passenger Locator Form (PLF) prior to departure to the UK.

We do not have specific data on the number of passengers that have not been able to complete the form because they did not have access to the internet.

However, from the assurance checks carried out by UK authorities there continues to be very high levels of compliance and the vast majority of travellers are meeting the UK’s health requirements for travel, including completion of the PLF before departure.

We engage closely with travel industry partners and operators and take onboard their feedback. As part of a wider review to reduce and simplify the PLF, we will also be extending the PLF completion window from 48 hours to three days from the end of February.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passengers disembarked at Southampton Cruise Terminal on 13 December 2021; and how many passenger locator forms were obtained.

Answered by Kevin Foster

Border Force does not collect data on passenger embarkation numbers. Therefore, we do not hold the level of data requested.

Statistics relating to passenger arrivals since the Covid outbreak are published quarterly and can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-relating-to-passenger-arrivals-since-the-covid-19-outbreak-november-2021/statistics-relating-to-passenger-arrivals-in-the-united-kingdom-since-the-covid-19-outbreak-november-2021.

The passenger locator form (PLF) is a digital form and can be resubmitted therefore we cannot provide the data requested. All passengers arriving by cruise ship are able to submit their PLF up to 21 days in advance. Cruise companies are also required to introduce a check-in process in the terminals, so PLFs are checked prior to passengers leaving the UK.