Contribution
First, I thank noble Lords and the noble Baroness for their contributions. I will attempt to deal, either now or subsequently, with each of their points.
The noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, said that it was good news on the ability to travel to states beyond the European Union and asked whether there are more examples. The only information that I have is that Ukraine indicated in December 2023, at the last committee meeting of the Interbus contracting parties, that it was preparing to ratify the protocol. Of course, one hopes that the clarity these new regulations give will encourage other parties beyond the European Union’s geography to be interested.
The department has no information about the current level of EU operators using cabotage in the UK, which will cease, if these regulations are accepted, from 31 March 2025. I suspect that, in non-quantifiable terms, it does not occur very often but, as I know from my past life, this matter has been a subject of some concern for UK coach operators in terms of the imbalance of opportunity. I will come back to that.
The noble Baroness mentioned consultation. The Confederation of Passenger Transport, which is the bus and coach operators’ trade body in the UK, is aware of this matter and has no comments on it, which I think is satisfactory. Officials tell me that they will continue to be in touch with the CPT, as we call it, in order that they are fully abreast of what is going on. Of course, the noble Baroness is absolutely right that the principal effect is in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. I can well believe that there are occasional, regular or special regular services that cross the border numerous times, because of the border’s nature.
The noble Lord, Lord Empey, asked about electronic travel authorisation. I will write to him on that subject so that we are absolutely clear on whether it will still be required.
I was delighted to discover that the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, has some sympathy with me—long may that continue. He mentioned the impact assessment. He is right that the instrument will have little impact, but it is important that UK bus and coach operators have some certainty about their future. As I just pointed out, the forthcoming ban on performing cabotage in the UK being passed to EU operators is a matter that has exercised some of their minds. They will welcome this instrument; there is no doubt about that. There might be some dislocation to UK passengers as a consequence, but I say to UK operators that, if they welcome the correction of this imbalance, it will be up to them to make the effort to capture some of the traffic that might otherwise be lost.
Lastly, the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, referred to enforcement. I did not say how many checks the 32 on-the-spot fines applied to because I did not know at the time I read the speech. I will look at that further and ask officials to speak to the DVSA so that it and its vehicle inspectors can take an informed view about this change and look out for these operators. It is not hard to understand that there are some obvious places to do that. These operators will enter the country through ports, and I think that enforcement operations are thoughtfully devised so that inspectors catch the right people, at the right time, in the right way.
The approval of this statutory instrument will ensure that the UK’s bus and coach operators can continue running services internationally, as they currently do and, most importantly, without any disruption or interruption from 1 April 2025. It will enable the UK to fulfil its international obligations under the TCA by enabling the UK’s ratification of the RSR protocol, which will contribute to our co-operative and close relationship with the European Union. The statutory instrument is, of course, required now to ensure that we can ratify the RSR protocol in January 2025 to bring it into force so that it is ready after the temporary provisions of the TCA expire on 31 March 2025.