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Policy Campaign Spotlight – June 2021
Recent campaign highlights from Logistics UK's policy team.
Northern Ireland Protocol
Logistics UK continues to participate in high-level engagement and meetings on the NI protocol – in recent weeks this has included meetings with the UK government and EU, Irish and US government representatives, plus NI, UK and Irish political leaders and ministers. We have also met with Lord Frost, NI Secretary of State Brandon Lewis MP and Irish foreign Minister Simon Coveney, providing us the ability to highlight problems faced by members and potential opportunities to improve the efficiencies of GB to NI supply chains. Logistics UK continues to pursue and outline solutions that would help mitigate the primary problems members are encountering with the Protocol.
Vans
The Van Policy Working Group (VPWG) has highlighted to government and policy makers the need to find fairer ways of funding upgrades of electricity supply at commercial vehicle depots. Where electrification is not a viable solution, we will be undertaking qualitative research into alternative fuel technologies for vans in summer 2021 to understand the options and barriers for van operators seeking to decarbonise their van fleets across all sectors. We have also recently fed into the new Local Authority Network Management guidance for reallocating road space, especially given the pressures on shared road space and kerbside access that come from Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) and Active Travel schemes. Additionally, VPWG members met with Department for Transport (DfT) officials working on bringing into UK law elements of the mobility package for operator licensing requirements for van operators who cross international borders for hire and reward, particularly affecting operators based in Northern Ireland. The meeting helped inform the officials of the issues and will shape our submission to the call for evidence on this issue in the summer.
Night flights
Night flights remain one of the most important issues facing our air members. The government’s ongoing consultation into night flight restrictions has been split into two parts: Logistics UK has responded to the first stage, highlighting the importance of continuing current night flight provision until 2024, and we are continuing our engagement on the night flights regime beyond 2024 (stage two), in which we will be highlighting the value of night flights to the UK economy in terms of GVA and employment. Alongside this, we will be stressing the need for continued night flight provision on a flexible basis in order to support the rise in e-commerce, on time deliveries, the domestic market and transport of vital medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, including COVID-19 vaccines. The new deadline for the night flights consultation is 3 September 2021.
*www.logistics.org.uk/campaigns
Published On: 10/06/2021 17:00:45
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