Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Accepted
We received written evidence from Manchester Airports Group, which told us that, if passenger numbers...
Conclusion
We received written evidence from Manchester Airports Group, which told us that, if passenger numbers remained as they were when testing requirements were in place, it would cost the UK economy £16 billion per year. It also estimated that travellers had spent £365–730 million on PCR tests between 20 May 2021 and 13 October 2021.18 We asked the Cabinet Office to what extent it had considered costs to businesses and individuals when changing the rules. The Cabinet Office told us that it did consider the costs to carriers and individuals but that it was not the biggest factor in its decision making.19
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation to set out how it would support industry partners if health measures were reintroduced and will capture lessons learned through engagement with transport operators. They note the importance of regular engagement, updated guidance, and the intent to use the least stringent measures possible in the future.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4: PAC conclusion: Government did not strike the right balance between its reliance on the travel industry to implement travel controls and the support it provided. 4: PAC recommendation: The Cabinet Office should set out, as part of its report capturing lessons learned, how it would support industry partners if health measures were reintroduced or required as part of other programmes in future. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.2 The government recognises the important role that transport operators played in enabling the UK’s COVID-19 border response and the speed they had to adapt their operations to the changing situation. Ministers were always clear that they would not hesitate to act quickly to protect public health but where the government could, operators were provided with as much certainty and clarity as possible, with 11 versions of updated guidance issued to transport operators between February 2021 and March 2022. 4.3 As part of contingency planning for future COVID-19 variants and broader pandemic preparedness, the government is considering all lessons learned, including how departments worked with industry partners. The Department for Transport has engaged with the transport industry to gather views on contingency planning and will continue to work closely with the transport industry over the autumn on this and longer-term resilience. The Home Office also continues to work with the transport industry to improve automation to support international travel in a future health event. Further lessons learned through this engagement will be captured, but some of the lessons learned on supporting industry partners with implementing border health measures include: • There should be regular engagement to communicate and provide as much certainty as possible on changes to border health measures. This engagement should provide an opportunity for industry members to seek clarity on any guidance and raise any operational impacts. • Operator and passenger guidance on gov.uk and the government toolkit to support industry communications to passengers should be regularly reviewed and updated. 4.4 As set out in the government’s recent response to the Transport Select Committee, on UK aviation: reform for take-off, there is a very high bar for implementing additional measures to respond to COVID-19 variants and the government’s default approach will be to use the least stringent measures, if appropriate, to minimise the impact on travel as far as possible.