The importance of not giving up

The value of logistics has really been recognised across government and the country over recent years, not least shown by the designation of logistics personnel as ‘essential workers’ during the COVID-19 pandemic. With Logistics UK’s strong representation of our industry, we have increased our influence across government, impacting change in Government policy and being recognised as the voice of the logistics sector. We are continuing to push at doors and we’re now even opening ones that had before been firmly shut.

Logistics UK’s engagement has widened beyond the traditional efforts with Department for Transport (DfT), and we’re now working with Cabinet Office, Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Department for Education (DfE) and Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT). One recent example of this is our push for funding and coordinated opportunities with DWP and DfE to support logistics companies to recruit and upskill HGV drivers and fill other vital roles to address significant shortages following Brexit and COVID-19, which is now coming to fruition.

However, one department has always been closed to our engagement – Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), previously the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. Two years ago we wrote to the secretary of state outlining the importance of the sector and our concerns about the planning system, and it took 18 months and many phone calls to receive a reply to this letter. However, in the last three months we’ve finally had a warm welcome and the door has been firmly opened.

We have now had four separate meetings with officials at DLUHC. Two have been focussed on planning, one on warehousing and one to talk about wider workstreams where our engagement would be welcome – including supporting the Levelling Up agenda and improving lorry and parking facilities.

We have a planned roundtable this month with government officials from DLUHC and DfT, and members with planning expertise have been invited to ask questions in a private forum and share their experience. We will take the outcomes from this meeting and build a report to highlight the barriers and blockages that are stifling logistics growth and the use of lower emission vehicles due to lack of land in urban areas.

Our aim is to help shape DLUHC’s policy as it reforms the planning system, with greater recognition of the importance of logistics, the need to safeguard logistics land, and the need to overcome barriers in the provision of overnight lorry parking and driver facilities. We want to push for parking and facilities to be provisioned for at the start of developments to prevent problems arising once they are built. We also want to ease the process of expanding logistics infrastructure provided clear criteria are met. Too often we have seen infrastructure plans with clear national economic benefits that can be delivered within environmental constraints have been delayed due to overly lengthy local planning rules and procedures.

There are some encouraging actions in the government’s 2020 Planning White Paper, such as proposals to categorise land into development “zones” and to introduce a new evidence-based sustainability test. However, there is more to be done. Our growing relationship with DLUHC has demonstrated what can be achieved when we keep going and don’t give up. I am confident that my team will continue to break down barriers and we hope to achieve a breakthrough for our members this year.

*www.logistics.org.uk/campaigns

Published On: 17/02/2022 16:00:48

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