Statement from Logistics UK on "pinging" by NHS COVID-19 app

Thursday 22 July 2021

Asked about ongoing issues caused across industry by contacts from the NHS app,  Elizabeth de Jong, Policy Director at Logistics UK said:

"Logistics as a sector is flexible and adaptable and has maintained supplies of everything UK plc needs throughout the pandemic.  Many of our workers operate in isolation and the risk of infection passing between them is very low – however, for those in warehouses and distribution centres, the risk is higher.  Having deemed logistics a “key” industry at the start of the pandemic, the government should be maintaining this designation and providing a blanket exemption for the industry.  Those with two vaccinations and recording negative test results should be allowed to continue to work. This will provide resilience for the UK’s supply chain and prevent unnecessary administration time being wasted.

"The proposed process to apply for exemption from isolation, following notifications from the NHS app, appears time consuming, and will not help logistics businesses which are already working at full stretch to keep the country supplied with all that it needs. We are talking to government about streamlining this process right now to protect the integrity of the supply chain."

Logistics UK is one of the UK’s leading business groups, representing logistics businesses which are vital to keeping the UK trading, and more than seven million people directly employed in the making, selling and moving of goods. With COVID-19, Brexit, new technology and other disruptive forces driving change in the way goods move across borders and through the supply chain, logistics has never been more important to UK plc. Logistics UK supports, shapes and stands up for safe and efficient logistics, and is the only business group which represents the whole industry, with members from the road, rail, sea and air industries, as well as the buyers of freight services such as retailers and manufacturers whose businesses depend on the efficient movement of goods.