It remains a requirement for all passengers, no matter which country they have travelled from, to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 3 days before departure and to self-isolate on arrival. A passenger locator form (PLF) must also be completed and passengers arriving without a completed form and negative test face a £500 fine.

Carriers are obliged to ensure passengers have these documents before they arrive in England and can face fines of £2,000 for each passenger they carry who does not have a valid Pre-Departure Test Certificate, and £2,000 for each passenger who does not have a completed PLF (including with the correct test booking reference number for managed quarantine or mandatory testing).

This is in addition to fines of £4,000 for failing to provide the correct information to passengers before departure and during the journey informing them of their requirements, and a £2,000 fine for conveying passengers who have been in a red list country in the previous 10 days to a non-designated port.

The Civil Aviation Authority has issued 630 fines since 11 February 2021 to airlines carrying passengers without the right documents. These measures form part of the UK’s tough border measures to protect the UK as the vaccine rollout continues to make progress with more than 42 million vaccinations delivered so far.

Border Force is currently checking every individual coming into the country, no matter where they have come from, and will continue to carry out thorough checks at the border to keep the public safe. While the stay in UK requirement is in place, you are only allowed to leave the UK from England if you have a reasonable excuse.

Following the publication of the Global Travel Taskforce report, we are working to restart international travel in a safe and sustainable way. This will allow families and friends to reunite, and businesses to start thriving again, while ensuring we protect public health.

Great to see you all again. We’ve got two big agenda items – the pace of transition that is needed to reach our Paris goals, and also the latest evidence on the relative environmental performance of technology options that we have to get to net zero. Then a short discussion on the global MoU on heavy-duty vehicles.

I am also joined by my friend Grant Shapps, UK Secretary of State for Transport.

This is the second meeting we are having on this Zero Emission Vehicles Council – welcome back to everyone who participated in the last meeting in November.

On this occasion I particularly wanted to welcome our friends from the US and Germany who are joining for the first time. Our thoughts and prayers are also with our friends in India, who were unable to join today due to the Covid-19 outbreak, as I’m sure you will understand. We look forward to welcoming them back to the next meeting.

Today, we are represented by ministers and leaders from across the world: from North America to Central America, Europe to Asia.

Collectively, we make up more than 50 per cent of the global car market.

That means all of us around this virtual table have the ability to determine the future of road transport.

With the sector accounting for 10 per cent of global emissions, what we do here collectively really matters.

There is no doubt that the industry is moving in the right direction.

From a UK perspective, we worked very closely with the sector last year when we announced our own targets for the phase out of petrol and diesel sales by 2030, and moving to all EVs from 2035. The fact that the sector itself is moving in the right direction is positive – major players like General Motors, Jaguar and Volvo have already made ambitious commitments to end the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles in the 2030s.

The growth of EVs is increasing, and the expectation is that 15% of new car sales in the EU will be electric vehicles in 2021.

This progress is fantastic, but we need to go further and faster.

Today we will discuss the speed of the transition to zero emission vehicles required to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

In the UK, we have committed to all new car and van sales being zero emission by 2035. This is very much central to our net zero plans as well as our green industrial revolution.

But I think we all recognise that if we are to halve global emissions by 2030, we all need to work together and move collectively in this direction.

The pace of change and technology options are two areas where collaboration can have a real impact.

We represent over 50 per cent of the global car market – if we act together, we have an opportunity to drive faster investment throughout the whole global car industry and bring down costs more quickly.

Under the most pessimistic forecasts, only a quarter of the cars on the road will be zero emission by 2050.

Meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement requires all cars to be zero emission by that date. So there is a big lift to be done here.

We also need to ensure we are bringing down costs at the same time, economies of scale will clearly help to deliver that, as well as the improvement in technology.

In the discussion today, we will explore how to collaborate in these areas and we will hear from independent experts in the UK’s Committee on Climate Change and the International Council on Clean Transportation.

I think we all acknowledge that climate change is the biggest challenge that is facing us globally. Unless we make real progress in the next 9 years – as 2030 is the date we are all striving for – I think it’s going to be very challenging to keep global temperature rises at 1.5 degrees and keep us on track for net zero by 2050.

We are doing this ourselves, but also for future generations. For a child that is born today – before that child has completed their primary education, the future will basically be set in terms of where we are going with our planet. It is incumbent on all of us therefore to make progress and act.

I now hand over to Grant Shapps, UK Secretary of State for Transport, to say a few words on our recent engagements with global vehicle manufacturers.

Residents and building owners are set to benefit from a new code of practice for professionals assessing buildings’ external walls and cladding systems.

As part of ambitious reform of the building sector, the government has commissioned the British Standards Institution (BSI) to draft a new code of practice for assessors when examining external walls and cladding.

This will ensure external wall assessments are carried out to a high and consistent standard, giving building owners clarity on the fire risk of the construction of external walls.

The code of practice will help professionals provide consistent, risk-based and proportionate advice on whether remediation of the external walls is necessary.

Building Safety Minister Lord Greenhalgh said:

As part of the biggest improvements to building safety standards in 40 years, we are taking firm action to ensure homes and buildings are safer.

This includes investing over £5 billion to help protect hundreds of thousands of leaseholders from the cost of replacing unsafe cladding on their homes.

I welcome the launch of this consultation on a new code of practice, commissioned by government, which will ensure greater clarity and consistency for those completing assessments of external walls and a clear steer on where remediation is, or is not, required.

Scott Steedman, Director-General of Standards at BSI said:

BSI, in its role as the UK National Standards Body, has opened a public consultation on the proposed new code of practice to support building professionals to undertake fire risk appraisals and assessments of the external wall construction of existing multistorey, multi occupied residential buildings.

We welcome all comments on the draft standard, especially from people living or working on or in these types of buildings, including residents and people from the construction, fire, housing and safety industries.

The consultation closes on 20 May 2021 and we aim to publish the standard in the autumn, after all comments have been reviewed by the expert steering group.

Mark Hardingham, National Fire Chiefs Council Chair said:

We welcome this consultation on the new draft code of practice for assessors when examining external walls and cladding.

To ensure that a wide range of views are considered before it is finalised, we want to encourage interested stakeholders to engage with it over the next few weeks.

Once finalised later this year, the code of practice will supersede aspects of the consolidated advice note on external wall systems, originally published in January 2020.

View the consultation.

Full-time undergraduate students in Wales are being encouraged to apply now for student finance, as the application service opens for the 2021 to 2022 academic year. Last academic year, the Student Loans Company (SLC) funded over 1 million students and anticipates an increase in applications for academic year 2021 to 2022.

The quickest and easiest way to apply is online and students should do so as soon as possible to ensure their finance is in place for the start of term. Students should apply now even if they are unsure what course they will be doing or what university they will attend. Applications can take six to eight weeks to process so students do not need to contact us during this time to check on the status of their application. We will contact them, or their parents and partners, should we require any additional information to support their application.

Applying for student finance is straightforward and students can make the process easier by following the tips below:

Apply as early as possible to make sure your finances are in place before your studies start. The deadline to apply is 4 June for new students and 25 June for continuing students. Even if you don’t know what course you’ll be studying, you should still apply now. Just use the course you think you’re most likely to attend and you can update your application later if you need to. This is the best way to make sure you have your money when you start your course.

Students in Wales can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan to pay for tuition fees and a Maintenance Loan to help with living costs. They can also apply for a Welsh Government Learning Grant which doesn’t need to be paid back. Watch our film to find out more.

Watch the Discover Student Finance film to find out more.

• Have your important documents at hand

Have your National Insurance number and UK passport details to hand before you start your application as you will need this information when you apply.

• Provide your supporting evidence online

Don’t forget to submit any evidence you’re asked for. All evidence apart from some ID or residency evidence can be submitted digitally via your online account.

• Make sure you tell us if you have studied before

If you have studied before it could affect your eligibility – even if your previous course was self-funded. Make sure to submit your application early so your entitlement can be confirmed.

• Check if you are eligible for extra support

There may be some circumstances where you are able to access extra money, for example if you have a disability, or have children. Find out more at www.studentfinancewales.co.uk

Students can get all the latest information on student finance and put their questions to our customer advisors via the SFW social media channels.

Derek Ross, SLC Executive Director of Operations, said: “It is time for students to get on with the important business of organising their finances. We expect it to be a busy year with more applications than ever and are urging students to apply now. Students that apply before the deadline can be confident knowing their finance will be in place for the start of term.

“Resources are available online to help students and their parents and partners with their applications and they can also follow Student Finance Wales on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest student finance information.”

New and returning students can apply online at www.studentfinancewales.co.uk