London, UK: The government is under renewed pressure to help alleviate the UK’s lorry driver shortage.
Logistics UK and the British Retail Consortium have joined forces to lobby for a review of plans not to grant temporary work visas to drivers from the EU.
The two organisations have jointly written to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng warning that the impact on supply chains is getting worse.
A temporary visa could lure EU drivers who have returned to the union to come back to the UK they say.
“The pandemic halted driver training and testing for over 12 months, while an estimated 25,000 EU drivers returned home during the pandemic and following the end of the transition period.”
The result is a shortfall of about 90,000 HGV drivers “placing increasingly unsustainable pressure on retailers and their supply chains” the letter says.
“The pandemic halted driver training and testing for over 12 months, while an estimated 25,000 EU drivers returned home during the pandemic and following the end of the transition period.”
The situation is likely to worsen over the coming weeks, the groups warn. And the industry is fast approaching its busiest period – the build up to Christmas.
“The current shortfall of around 90,000 HGV drivers is placing unsustainable pressure on retailers and their supply chains. While there was a shortage of HGV drivers prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit, these two events have exacerbated the situation; the pandemic halted driver training and testing for more than 12 months, while an estimated 25,000 EU drivers returned home during the pandemic and following the end of the transition period.
“Logistics UK and BRC are urging the government to adopt three policies immediately. First, to increase DVSA’s testing capacity permanently so the agency is able to process the backlog of driver tests placed on hold during the pandemic – this has left thousands of aspiring HGV drivers unable to join the workforce. The government should also review its decision not to grant temporary work visas to HGV drivers from the EU, as such drivers could supplement the domestic HGV workforce in the short-term, while the testing backlog is cleared, and new drivers are trained and become qualified. Third, industry needs government to ensure its skills and training schemes support the recruitment of HGV drivers, by reforming the National Skills Fund to fund HGV driver training and injecting flexibility into the Apprenticeship Levy.”
The two groups call for three specific measures:
- Review the decision not to grant temporary work visas to HGV drivers from the European Union. It would help in the short term while a driver testing backlog is cleared and new drivers trained
- Reform the National Skills Fund to enable HGV driver training to be funded and injecting flexibility into Apprenticeship Levy, such as enabling “front-loading” of training to get trainees driving as soon as possible into the 12-month programme
- improve testing Covid facilities so that HGV drivers can be tested daily.
The Road Haulage Association has already said that there was shortfall of about 60,000 lorry drivers in the UK over the summer. Supermarkets such as Tesco and Aldi have been offering bonuses and other incentives to boost recruitment, but the labour squeeze continues.
Analysis of the latest ONS Labour Force Survey for the second quarter suggests that 14,000 EU lorry drivers left jobs in the UK in the year to June 2020, and only 600 had returned by July 2021.
A government spokesperson said on Friday: “The British people repeatedly voted to end free movement and take back control of our immigration system and employers should invest in our domestic workforce instead of relying on labour from abroad.
“We recently announced a package of measures to help tackle the HGV driver shortage, including plans to streamline the process for new drivers to gain their HGV licence and to increase the number of tests able to be conducted.
“We have also temporarily relaxed drivers’ hours rules to allow HGV drivers to make slightly longer journeys, but these must only be used where necessary and must not compromise driver safety.”
The full test of the joint letter
Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Dear Secretary of State, 20 August 2021
We are writing to you on behalf of our members regarding the ongoing shortage of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) delivery drivers in the UK and the impacts this is having on retail supply chains. In recent weeks this has led to an increase in disruption for consumers and we are keen to resolve this situation as soon as possible.
As you will be aware, there is current shortfall of around 90,000 HGV drivers which is placing increasingly unsustainable pressure on retailers and their supply chains . While there was a shortage of HGV drivers prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit, these two events have exacerbated situation. The pandemic halted driver training and testing for over 12 months, while an estimated 25,000 EU drivers returned home during the pandemic and following the end of the transition period.
The impacts on retail supply chains are now starting to be felt and we are concerned that already the situationisgettingworse. Although we have had good engagementwith Government departments including DfT, DfE, DWP and DEFRA on this issue, we are writing to bring this to your attention because it is an issue which is and will affect every business and the underlying functioning of our economy. The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) needs to be aware, in order that you can take up these issues with other government departments on our behalf.
Both the retail and logistics industries are working hard to address the driver shortage challenge by increasing pay rates, offering bonuses, and implementing internal training schemes to upskill existing workers and introducing new schemes including apprenticeships and traineeships. We welcome the engagement we have had with the Government on this issue; the publication of the Government’s plans to increase HGV driver testing capacity and simplify the process of attaining a licence should encourage morepeopleto consider a career as an HGVdriver. However,it will take time for the pool of available HGV drivers to reach a scale which matches demand. Even if the DVSA is successful in increasing testing capacity to 2,000 passes each week, the backlog of tests is unlikely to clear before the middle of 2022.
In addition, there are several events in the coming months which will add further pressure to supply chains. These include the start of the school year and anticipated return to workplaces for many businesses in September, which is likely to increase demand for food deliveries to these locations : the start of new customs checks and processes for goods movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in October, and between the EU and Great Britain in January 2022; and the build-up to Christmas, which is the busiest time of year for many retailers and for the logistics sector when volume requirements increase significantly.
The impact of the driver shortage is already being felt, with many businesses struggling to get goods into distribution centres and depots and – in some cases – into shops, with ramifications for consumer choice. There are severe inflationary pressures in the supply chain due to lack of drivers , pressure which neither the logistics industry nor the retail industry can afford. One medium-sized logistics firm has reported that they have so far had to invest £1.5 million just to retain their existing drivers. Separately, one retailer is reporting an extra £2.3 million in costs since April due to the driver shortages as they have already had to increase pay twice in this period to retain drivers. This is compounded by the increased cost of hiring agency drivers, where costs have increased 30% over the last twelve months.
DfT has extended the temporary relaxation of the enforcement of drivers ’ hours rules until 3 October; previously this was in place from 12 July to 8 August. This easement permits HGV drivers to spend more time driving than allowed under existing laws to govern road safety and must only be used in exceptional circumstances. In this case, the justification provided by DfT is a combination of the “cumulative impacts of Covid-19 and an acute shortage of drivers of HGVs”, which are causing “acute supply chain pressures”.
Our understanding is that 450 businesses notified government of their intention to use this easement; up from around 20 who took this step when the easement was in place just before Christmas. Given the Covid-19 situation was worse pre-Christmas this is a strong indicator that the driver shortageis causingthe increased uptake of this easement. One retailer has been unable to move their distribution centres to a seven-day operation given the lack of available resource, a move that was intended to support the build-up of stock ahead of the run-up to Christmas.
To support key industries and their supply chains through the challenges ahead, we urge the Government to:
Review the decision not to grant temporary work visas to HGV drivers from the EU: Such drivers could supplement the domestic HGV workforce in the short-term, while the testing backlog is cleared, and new drivers are trained and become qualified.
Ensure that Government skills and training schemes support the recruitment of HGV drivers: By reforming the National Skills Fund to enable HGV driver training to be funded and injecting flexibility into Apprenticeship Levy, such as enabling “front-loading” of training to get trainees driving as soon as possible into the 12-month programme.
Permanently increase testing capacity: To avoid the backlog of testing continuing into 2022, we need additional staff at the DVSA and more use of delegated testing to permanently increase the number of drivers who are able to take HGV tests each day. Throughout the pandemic, HGV drivers have been the backbone for the economy, keeping the nation’s businesses and homes stocked with the goods and services they need.
We need BEIS to work with us to ensure the government provides a clear road map and tangible support for industry to ensure that our stores can continue to provide what the country needs every day. BRC, Logistics UK and our respective memberships would welcome the opportunity to discuss these matters with you in more detail.
Yours sincerely,
Helen Dickinson, OBE Chief Executive, British Retail Consortium
David Wells Chief Executive Logistics UK
cc. Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP, Secretary of State, Department for Transport
