The haulage sector has been experiencing a shortage of HGV
drivers worldwide for some time. The issue has been further
exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic as driver testing
had to be suspended for much of last year, meaning the
shortage increased further.
This country enjoys a robust and resilient supply chain.
Nevertheless, there is no room for complacency and this
Government is determined to do what it can to mitigate the
effects as far as is possible. It is therefore vital that
we expedite legislation that will expand and accelerate
testing - while at the same time acknowledging that the
road haulage industry must play its part in improving
recruitment and training by offering better pay and
conditions.
The Department for Transport and other Government
Departments have worked closely with the haulage sector
considering a range of options to improve the number of HGV
drivers. As part of these measures a consultation closed on
7 September on change to streamline the HGV driving licence
regime and removing a separate trailer test for car
drivers. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has
already taken administrative action to increase capacity
and offer more practical HGV tests but more is needed.
The first of these measures will be addressed via a draft
affirmative statutory instrument that will be laid before
Parliament today and will mean that car drivers will no
longer need to take another test to tow a trailer or
caravan, freeing up some 30,000 test slots annually. This
additional capacity can be used to reduce the backlog in
HGV testing.
To make rapid progress on this, we are making use of the
urgent procedure under paragraph 14(6) of Schedule 8 to the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. I am of the opinion
that, by reason of urgency, the requirements for the
statutory instrument to be published in draft 28 days
before it is laid, and for a scrutiny statement to be made
before laying, should not apply.
Accelerating the legislation by forgoing the 28-day
publication period will allow earlier laying of the
legislation than would have otherwise been possible and
strengthen the steps we have already taken to increase
testing capacity and ease supply chain issues as quickly as
possible. Arrangements will be in place to ensure that the
changes made by the legislation are operationally effective
as soon as the legislation is in force.
Road safety continues to be of paramount importance. We
will engage with training providers and insurers to test
the response to this change and to explore how we can seek
to ensure that any road safety concerns are addressed. We
will also explore options for an industry led accreditation
that could offer a standardised testing approach if that
would be welcomed by the market, insurers and consumers.
