Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people usually resident in the UK travelled to the UK via (a) sea, (b) tunnel and (c) air in each year between 2013 and 2022.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport does not hold data on the number of people usually resident in the UK that travelled to the UK via sea, tunnel, or air in each year between 2013 and 2022.
Data on the number of visits abroad by UK residents from 2013 to 2022 is available, however. This data is published in table TSGB0113 of the Transport Statistics Great Britain publication and reproduced as Table 1 below. The data in this table is collected as part of the Office for National Statistics’ International Passenger Survey, but the Department for Transport does not hold equivalent data for UK residents travelling to the UK. It is assumed that most UK residents travelling abroad will return to the UK at the end of their visit, but not always by the same mode of transport.
Table 1: Visits abroad by UK residents (in thousands) by mode of transport
Year | Air | Sea | Channel Tunnel | Total |
2013 | 54,862 | 7,980 | 6,117 | 68,959 |
2014 | 57,893 | 8,173 | 6,138 | 72,204 |
2015 | 63,438 | 7,902 | 6,278 | 77,619 |
2016 | 68,342 | 7,639 | 5,776 | 81,757 |
2017 | 73,746 | 7,489 | 6,007 | 87,242 |
2018 | 76,356 | 7,496 | 6,719 | 90,571 |
2019 | 79,534 | 7,150 | 6,402 | 93,086 |
2020 [Note 1] | [x] | [x] | [x] | [x] |
2021 [Note 2] [Note 3] | 17,061 | 1,174 | 907 | 19,142 |
2022 [Note 2] | 62,243 | 4,371 | 4,337 | 70,950 |
Note 1: No data were collected for Q2 to Q4 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Due to data only being available for the first 3 months of 2020, this year has been omitted.
Note 2: Data collection from Dover port was restarted in Q3 2021 but no data were collected from the Eurotunnel for 2021 and the first two quarters of 2022. Eurotunnel estimates for Q4 2021, Q1 2022 and Q2 2022 are based on modelling passenger numbers with the data collected from the London Eurostar terminal.
Note 3: Movements across the Irish land border are excluded from 2021.
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/tsgb01-modal-comparisons
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of passenger journeys made on local bus services by (a) metropolitan area and (b) urban-rural status for 2022-23 in (i) England, (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber and (iii) Leeds.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department publishes annual National Statistics on bus passenger journeys, with the statistics for the year ending March 2023 provisionally set to be published in October 2023. The statistics do not present figures for Leeds as the data is not collected at this level of granularity, instead figures for West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority are available. All other requested breakdowns are available.
All of the Department’s annual, quarterly and compendium statistical releases for the coming year can be found on the forthcoming publication schedule on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport/about/statistics#see-our-forthcoming-publications
An alternative measure of bus passenger journeys for Great Britain for the year ending March 2023 is available via our Domestic Transport Usage by Mode statistics that are published monthly on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-use-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Deportment holds on passenger numbers (a) before the imposition of covid-19 restrictions in March 2020 and (b) after the covid-19 pandemic for (i) national rail services, (ii) buses (A) in England outside of London, (B) in London and (C) in Wales and (iii) London Underground services.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The department holds daily usage figures as a percentage of the pre-covid baseline for rail, non-London bus, and TfL London bus and London tube from the start of March 2020 to date. The data covers Great Britain. This information is publicly available (Daily domestic transport use by mode).
Statistics are also publicly available which provide a regional breakdown including data for areas A, B and C for bus (annual bus statistics) and rail passenger numbers (Regional rail usage | ORR Data Portal).
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2022 to Question 92231 on P&O Ferries: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, whether his Department has had discussions with representatives of P&O Ferries on the return of furlough funding since 28 November 2022.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
As per the response of 4 July 2022, reiterated on 28 November 2022, the government has repeatedly called for P&O Ferries to repay its furlough funding.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Department's publication of government procurement card spending over £500 for December 2021, what was the (a) nature and (b) purpose of the chauffeur services purchased from The Travel In Group on 21 December 2021.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The transparency release for government procurement card spending over £500 for December 2021 has no record of chauffeur services or record of a purchase from the Travel In group on 21 December 2021.
There is an entry for the Travel In group on 1 December 2021. This was for the transportation of a delegation of Arab-Israeli entrepreneurs to the London Roadshow, a 5 day event designed to promote the UK as a market of choice for Arab-Israeli led tech start-ups. This option was chosen to ensure the safe transport of the delegation while maintaining compliance with coronavirus restrictions.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much revenue risk the Government has incurred from strike action by the transport unions since 1 January 2022; and what estimate he has made of the revenue risk the Government has incurred on the strike dates of (a) 24-27 December 2022, (b) 3-4 January 2023 and (c) 6-7 January 2023.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
When the pandemic started Government put in place emergency agreements with operators to mitigate the financial impacts resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and ensure that rail services could continue to operate. These agreements transferred most financial risk to Government.
Strikes can cause revenue losses up to £25 million on typical weekdays and £15 million on typical weekends, though losses depend on factors such as the nature of industrial action and unions involved.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take fiscal steps to support regional airports including Aberdeen Airport.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The aviation sector is an important part of the UK’s economy, and we are committed to supporting and restarting it.
At Autumn Budget 2021, the Government announced reforms to Air Passenger Duty (APD) on domestic flights in order to support UK-wide connectivity. To support connectivity, the new domestic rate will apply to all flights between airports in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (excluding private jets) and will be set at £6.50 for economy passengers, benefitting around 9 million passengers in 2023/24.
The air transport sector has benefitted from significant pandemic related Government support. This includes support through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. In addition, we supported regional airports through our Airports and Ground Operations Support Scheme.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2022 to Question 73004 on P&O Ferries: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, whether his Department has had any discussions with representatives of P&O Ferries about the return of furlough funding since 25 October 2022.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department has not had recent discussions with P&O Ferries’ representatives on the repayment of furlough funding. As per the response of 4 July 2022, the government has repeatedly called for P&O Ferries to repay its furlough funding, and we have emphasised this at every opportunity.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many employees in his Department work on matters related to covid-19.
Answered by Jesse Norman
As of the 15th November 2022 there are 19 members of staff undertaking work on matters directly relating to Covid-19 where this work constitutes the majority of their working time. These staff members are primarily in DfT’s Covid-19 Inquiry Response Division. Their work will include input and support from relevant functions and modal teams as necessary.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that funding provided by the UK Infrastructure Bank is targeted to small and medium-sized enterprises in (a) rural, (b) isolated and (c) deprived communities.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) was launched in June 2021 and is a government-owned lending institution headquartered in Leeds.
UKIB has a mandate to tackle climate change and support regional and local economic growth across the UK by investing in economic infrastructure including clean energy, transport, digital, water and waste. As of 10th November, the UKIB has announced 10 deals worth over £1 billion covering all areas of the UK.
Within its remit, UKIB is able to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) indirectly through its financing of infrastructure projects.
Over the past two years, the Government has taken unprecedented action to protect millions of SMEs, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Government-guaranteed loans. This year we are extending the Recovery Loan Scheme until June 2024.