🕒 Article read time: 2 minutes
Policy campaign highlight – October 2021
Over recent weeks, significant progress has been made in the campaign to address the HGV driver shortage in Britain.
Following months of engagement, government has confirmed 5,000 temporary HGV driver visas will be granted, increased Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) HGV testing capacity, £10m funding through Skills Bootcamps and an extension to 31 January 2022 for the £3,000 employer incentive payment for new apprenticeships.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has also announced that drivers whose GB ADR driver training certificates are due to expire between 27 September 2021 and 31 December 2021 will now be valid until 31 January 2022.
We are in constant dialogue with government around the details of the visa scheme and the additional training funding and will communicate to members as soon as this has been confirmed.
Logistics UK, together with the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and DfT, has also contacted nearly one million HGV licence holders to ask them to consider coming back to logistics.
While we welcome the recent announcements, we are aware that these changes are not having sufficient impact on the ground. Members are reporting difficulties in finding test slots, so we are working with DVSA on ways to help members use the extra capacity provided. We are also continuing to press for transparency about the number of tests taking place each week.
Furthermore, the three-month temporary visas are limited in numbers and are only available to food and fuel operators. We continue to push for additional provision of visa capacity until sufficient UK drivers are operating in the UK.
We’re also asking government to deliver on driver parking facilities, where progress has been frustratingly slow despite years of promises to review and take action to address these issues.
We are increasing engagement across government and industry, and during the Conservative Party Conference, Elizabeth de Jong, Director of Policy, led a discussion on skills provision with Alex Burghart MP, Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills, and Steven Granite, from Think Logistics. Logistics UK raised the fact that, so far, funding and provision is aimed primarily at Level 3 and above, whereas the majority of jobs in the logistics sector, including HGV drivers and mechanics, are Level 2. The session included good input from industry, and we will be taking forward several of the discussion points with the Minister in greater detail.
To support the campaign, Logistics UK has achieved significant media coverage on the driver shortage over recent weeks, with national and international press coverage as well as broadcast media.
Logistics UK members wanting to know more about driver shortage and skills issues, please visit the Skills and Employment Advice Hub or join the Employment Action Group by contacting your local membership relations manager.
*www.logistics.org.uk/campaigns
Published On: 14/10/2021 16:00:54
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