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Transport Committee Chair raises question of imposing a levy on industry
Transport Minister Baroness Vere of Norbiton, who currently holds the roads portfolio, told MPs that she has considered imposing a levy on the road haulage sector at the Transport Committee last week (26 January 2021).
If implemented, it is understood that proceeds from the levy would be used to fund both driver training and good quality driver facilities across the UK.
Following a discussion on driver training and facilities, Huw Merriman MP, Chair of the Transport Committee, asked the minister: “Would the government consider saying to the industry as a whole, you either get your house in order and stop blaming each other or we will effectively put a levy over the top of you?”
The minister responded: “It is definitely something that has crossed my mind, but it is not something that one would want to do as a first step,” later adding, “I have mulled it, it’s quite radical and one wouldn’t want to see it happen but goodness industry, sort your life out.”
Baroness Vere also urged logistics companies to follow the example of passenger transport operators and pay for new entrants to the sector to undertake their HGV driving tests and CPC training.
“Do you want me to say one thing that I want the sector to do?” she asked, “Invest in your people. Why can’t you be like the bus sector and pay to train your people? Don’t expect them to pay for it themselves. £3,000 before you’ve even got a job is a lot of money.”
While she praised the 11,000 places on Skills Bootcamps funded by the Department for Education, she said it was ultimately for industry, not government, to fund HGV driver training.
Concluding, Merriman said that the minister’s comments provided “food for thought” for when it came to making the committee’s recommendations.
In response, Elizabeth de Jong, Logistics UK’s Director of Policy, said: “Overnight lorry parking and driver facilities are essential to support the logistics industry but despite the urgent need to resolve this issue, it is not the responsibility of the sector to build and run truck stops. Government studies have highlighted commercial appetite to build and run these sites, but it is a lack of land and planning approval that has led to a market failure. Once these barriers are overcome, this should lead to a commercially viable sector where intervention is no longer needed.”
On training, she added: “Our members are fully committed to investing in their people, with many looking to grow pipelines of talent from within their businesses. Following these comments, Logistics UK is seeking government’s assessment of the proportion of training that is self-funded compared with training that is paid for by industry. This will allow proper debate on this issue.”
*www.logistics.org.uk/road
Published On: 03/02/2022 16:00:59
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