Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will match the support given to retail and hospitality sectors by extending the Airports and Ground Operators Support Scheme to offer relief equivalent to full, uncapped business rates in 2021.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The aviation sector is crucial to the UK’s economy and businesses across the industry have drawn on an unprecedented package of economic measures which we have put in place. This includes support through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Airport and Ground Operations Scheme. In total, we estimate that by the end of September 2021 the air transport sector will have benefited from around £7bn of Government support since the start of the pandemic.
The Airport and Ground Operations Scheme provides eligible commercial airports support towards their fixed costs. The Scheme originally opened in January to provide support to airports for the 2020/21 financial year. In the March Budget, the Chancellor announced a six-month renewal to the scheme from April, initial payments will be made towards the end of the summer.
The caps on the support strike an appropriate balance between supporting airports and ground handing companies in financial distress while protecting the interests of the taxpayer.
The support will help airports and ground handlers following the introduction of international travel restrictions designed to protect the public. We continue to take a flexible approach and keep all impacts and policies under review.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to support the aviation industry and its personnel during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government has provided significant support to the aviation sector. We estimate that by the end of September 2021, the air transport sector will have benefitted from around £7bn of Government support since the beginning of the pandemic. This includes support through loan guarantees, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
To support aviation personnel, the Department launched the Aviation Skills Retention Platform, allowing aviation sector workers who are out of work to register their skills and pursue job and upskilling opportunities. Through the platform, we are funding training places to retain and develop skills within the sector. Moreover, we are working across government to maximise use of existing support measures to assist aviation workers at risk of redundancy to stay in employment or move between sectors.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether passengers who are travelling to green list countries who have not left the UK in the previous 14 days require negative covid-19 tests to board a plane.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
It is a matter for each country to decide on appropriate health measures. Different countries require different tests in line with their requirements. It is important for travellers to check the relevant Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Travel Advice for their destination when travelling to countries on the green list.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of commercial airlines on ensuring that customers receive refunds or credit vouchers in the event that those customers decide not to travel having purchased airline tickets as a result of being unable to self-isolate for 10 days on their return to the UK from an amber list country under covid-19 travel restrictions.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Minister for Aviation and/or Department for Transport officials held discussions with representatives from the travel industry, including aviation, regarding passenger rights most recently on the 5, 13 and 20 May, seeking their input to the development of the Passenger COVID-19 Charter.
Not all consumers will have the right to a refund if the restrictions relating to their destination change. The Charter sets out the rights and responsibilities for consumers while travel is affected by COVID-19 restrictions. The industry have responded with increased flexibility offering alternative dates and/or destinations for bookings for affected customers.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to support airport-based vehicle rental businesses over the next six months.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government recognises the challenging circumstances aviation and associated business face as a result of Covid-19. Firms, across the economy, that are experiencing difficulties have been able to draw upon the unprecedented package of measures announced by the Chancellor. This includes support through loan guarantees, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
The extension of Government-backed loans and furlough payments announced at the Budget build on the support package available and will help ensure this vital and vibrant part of the UK economy is ready to bounce back in the wake of the pandemic.
We continue to take a flexible approach and keep all impacts and policies under review.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of reduced airline passenger numbers during the covid-19 outbreak on airport-based vehicle rental businesses (a) between March 2020 until May 2021 and (b) over the next six months.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government recognises the challenging circumstances aviation and associated business face as a result of Covid-19. Firms, across the economy, that are experiencing difficulties have been able to draw upon the unprecedented package of measures announced by the Chancellor. This includes support through loan guarantees, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
The extension of Government-backed loans and furlough payments announced at the Budget build on the support package available and will help ensure this vital and vibrant part of the UK economy is ready to bounce back in the wake of the pandemic.
We continue to take a flexible approach and keep all impacts and policies under review.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the guidance entitled Coronavirus (COVID-19): safer aviation guidance for operators, what estimate his Department has made of the average number of daily flights that have implemented two meter social distancing between different households or support bubbles within aircraft where possible since the implementation of the green list travel corridors.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government expects all airlines to manage the risks of COVID-19 transmission. The guidance is clear that social distancing of 1m+ with risk mitigations should be observed where possible. Where social distancing is not possible, airlines are advised to carry out a risk assessment and implement appropriate risk controls. For example, wearing a face covering can play a role in helping us to protect each other.
Asked by: Lord Bowness (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of unemployment rates in (1) aviation communities, and (2) communities dependant on industries associated with aviation, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; and what specific support they have made available to such communities.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport is committed to addressing the ongoing impact COVID-19 has had on the aviation sector. Aviation supported around half a million jobs across all regions of the UK before COVID-19, and since the start of the pandemic there have been tens of thousands of job cuts, mainly concentrated in the South East.
Businesses across the industry have drawn on economy wide measures including the Covid Job Retention Scheme and Covid Corporate Finance Facility, and sector specific support such as the Airport and Ground Operators Support Scheme. We estimate that by the end of September 2021 the air transport sector will have benefited from around £7bn of Government support since the start of the pandemic, with an estimated 50% of air transport sector employees currently furloughed.
Over £25bn has also been provided to the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors in the form of grants, loans and tax breaks. The Government has extended business rates relief, introduced new Restart grants of up to £18,000, and has extended the cut in VAT for tourism and hospitality activities to 5% until the end of September.
Asked by: Lord Bowness (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the social, and (2) the economic, impact of the restrictions on international travel introduced to address the COVID-19 pandemic on communities (1) directly dependant on aviation, and (2) dependant on manufacturing and supplies associated with the aviation industry.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the challenging circumstances facing the aviation industry because of Covid-19 and firms experiencing difficulties can draw upon the unprecedented package of measures announced by the Chancellor.
The Global Travel Taskforce report, published in April 2021, was created following extensive engagement with a wide range of stakeholders from the international travel and tourism industries to develop a risk-based framework that can facilitate the return of international travel while managing Variants of Concern.
The taskforce considered a full range of views from industry stakeholders to inform the final recommendations and we are grateful for their valuable contributions to the development of the report’s recommendations. We will continue to draw on the latest and most robust evidence and analysis about the impact of Covid-19 as we look to facilitate the safe return of international travel whilst protecting public health.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they are putting in place to ensure that individuals arriving from non-‘red list’ countries have not been in ‘red list’ countries in the previous 28 days.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
All passengers who have been in a red list country in the 10 days before travel to the UK must take a pre-departure test (PDT), complete a passenger locator form (PLF), book tests to be taken on days 2 & 8 after arrival and quarantine for 10 days in an approved hotel. Passengers who have declared travel from or through red list countries, and who do not qualify for a work-related exemption, cannot complete a PLF without providing confirmation of a booking in managed quarantine.
Carriers are required to check passengers travelling to the UK have completed a PLF and taken a PDT.
Border Force continue to work with DfT and DHSC to identify passengers who are attempting to circumvent the MQS requirements, but it would not be appropriate to comment publicly on the detail of the operations concerned.