London, UK: Trade bodies, including the Road Haulage Association, met roads minister Baroness Vere on 16 June to highlight the growing threat to UK supply chains from the worsening driver shortage.
RHA chief executive, Richard Burnett said: “The need for action is clear and urgent. We and many others have provided overwhelming evidence that the shortage is getting worse – the situation must be addressed right now.”
Other trade bodies and supply chain companies representing food, retail, manufacturing, and hospitality were also at the meeting and heard about the growing difficulties of recruiting lorry drivers.
Along with Baroness Vere, the government was also represented by Mims Davies, a minister from the Department of Work and Pensions.
The discussion centred on the scale of the problems that hauliers face and the measures that can be taken over the short, medium and long-term.
The RHA re-emphasised the need for urgent actions to deal with the immediate shortage. It highlighted issues around driver training and apprenticeships, Driver CPC, short-term access to non-UK labour, parking and facilities for drivers, along with the need to treat drivers and the sector with the respect they deserve.
The government gave a commitment to continue to look at actions that can be taken to address the issues raised by industry.
The meeting comes at a time when new data shows that the number of EU citizens searching for work in Britain has fallen by more than a third since Brexit. Figures from the jobs website Indeed show searches by EU-based jobseekers for work in the UK were down by 36% in May from average levels in 2019. Low-paid jobs in areas such as hospitality, the care sector and warehouses, recorded the biggest declines at 41%.
