London, UK: Road transport industry groups have slated the Transport Select Committee’s report into supply chain problems.
The report, published today (1 June 2022) is “an attempt to blame the industry for supply chain problems,” says Logistics UK.
Shane Brennan, chief executive, Cold Chain Federation said: “It is a shame that despite the many good insights and testimony gathered for the report, that the headline recommendation is so poorly conceived and unnecessarily divisive.”
Blame for the issues faced by the sector has been unfairly placed at the industry’s door said David Wells, chief executive, Logistics UK.
“Logistics workers are the unsung heroes of the Covid-19 pandemic, keeping shops, schools, hospitals and locked-down families supplied with all the goods and medicines the country needed,” he said.
“To place all the blame for the supply chain issues facing our industry at our door does our workers a great disservice, and totally ignores the role which the government and other agencies have played in creating staff recruitment and retention problems across the sector,” Wells said.
“Despite operating on incredibly narrow margins – often of less than 1% – our sector has already made significant investment in the next generation of workers through the Apprenticeship Levy with £700m paid in by our industry to date. However, due to a lack of appropriate qualifications for the sector, which did not even exist until 2021, only £150 million has been able to be drawn down thus far, representing a tax on our sector and a huge, missed opportunity for recruitment,” Wells said.
“It is also a national disgrace that thousands of HGV drivers, who have worked so tirelessly to protect the supply chain during the pandemic, are still unable to access suitable safe and secure truck stops across the country, with many forced to take their legally mandated rest breaks on the side of roads, something which Logistics UK has campaigned on for many years.”
However, it is not the industry’s responsibility to build and run these facilities, not least because they are commercial enterprises, many of which cater for all road users and not just the haulage sector, Wells said.
“The real problem that has not been resolved is local authority planning rules and red tape that prevent these facilities being built in the first place. To suggest that these new builds, which are used by all road users, could be constructed as a result of a levy on hauliers would place an unfair, disproportionate burden on the industry.
The Cold Chain Federation also rejected the proposal for a tax on haulage services describing it has a poor idea especially at a time of general inflation across supply chains, especially in food.
Wells said: “The report’s overview of the sector’s recruitment issues is confused and misleading. Like nearly every other industry in the UK, logistics is facing issues caused by a combination of factors, none of which are within its control.”
“These include an ageing workforce, the loss of European workers after Brexit and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on testing of new HGV drivers. The industry has already come together to create and fund a massive skills and recruitment campaign, aimed at young people, women and other under-represented groups, to attract new talent into the sector. The government is aware of this and has committed to supporting the industry’s efforts.”
“It’s disappointing that the committee has taken so long to reach the wrong conclusions and not address the real public policy issues needing urgent attention”, Wells said.
Brennan said: “Last year’s driver shortage crisis was a rude awakening for our nation, demonstrating just how reliant we are on a small number of dedicated front line professionals to drive the vehicles carrying the goods that feed, clothe and generally sustain us.
It is not clear what the report authors believe can be achieved in the two year deadline they set, Brennan said. “This will be achieved through open, committed partnership focused on common goals not seeking to single out blame, set arbitrary deadlines and make threats of punitive taxes.”
In marked contrast to the associations, industry trade union Unite, welcomed the report saying: “the industry can no longer drag its heels on the need to tackle driver shortages, poor pay and a lack of decent on the road facilities that are causing workers to walk away from the sector.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The logistics giants need to stop hoarding the profits and start investing in the workforce.”
Unite national officer for the road transport sector, Adrian Jones, said: “Unite has been very clear that the sector must pay better and stop waiting for someone else to invest in lorry park rest facilities. As this report reaffirms, the troubles in the sector are the fault of the employers.
For more comment see the news analysis on this site.
