The new Government’s supply-side approach to boost growth will
need to include a plan to keep the supply-chain resilient.
Without fresh intervention, the UK won’t have enough HGV drivers
on the road to keep freight moving, warns the Transport
Committee.
The Committee has just published the previous Government’s
response to its report, Road freight supply chain,
in which MPs urged ministers to ‘level up’ the supply chain.
With Christmas just weeks away, MPs warn that the Government’s
approach is unlikely to prevent the periodic disruption seen in
previous years. The Committee’s inquiry was prompted by the
failure of the logistics sector to supply essential goods to the
UK’s supermarkets, petrol station forecourts and other
marketplaces.
The Committee’s report recommended actions to overhaul the
logistics sector and ensure the supply chain and its workforce
are more robust and resilient. It called on industry –
particularly large retailers, online service giants and fuel
companies – to step up and take a role in delivering improved
standards and resilience to the workforce which delivers their
goods. The imposition of a financial penalty by Government, such
as a Supply Chain Levy could improve compliance, said MPs. The
Committee’s recommendations were largely rejected. The new
Government is urged to think again.
The Chair of the Transport Committee, , said:
“The new Government’s mantra on supply-side initiatives is in
keeping with our proposals to get the supply-chain moving. We
urge the Government to re-write this disappointing response to
our Committee’s recommendations. Without a new approach, the
Government risks sleepwalking into another supply chain
crisis. We have watched a sector struggling with recruitment
and retention. Drivers are retiring and not enough is being done
to recruit a younger and more diverse workforce.
“Only a radical overhaul, with Government taking the shackles off
planning restraints and incentivising industry to invest, will
see more people consider HGV driving as a good career. Our
inquiry heard how salaries are not the only factor – planning
reform, funded training, welfare, vehicle security, adequate
facilities – are all key to valuing drivers in an employment
market where drivers can earn good wages elsewhere.
“The Government needs to see planning reform as the key to
unlocking more resilience. Using small pockets of taxpayer
funding is not the answer. The investment of £52 million in
better driver facilities gives mixed messages about where
responsibility lies and will not go far: we heard that one
service station with 100 HGV spaces cost £40 million to deliver.
“It’s time to shift the bill to those who make the largest
profits. A failure to invest in their own supply chain should
lead to a financial levy on companies at the start and end of
this chain. These companies, from oil producers to retail and
online giants, make billions in profits but fail to invest in
improvements for the drivers who deliver their profits. The
Government need to reduce red-tape to incentivise new facilities
to be built faster. If the industry will not then build, and
invest in the resilience which drivers need, then the Government
should do it for them and send them the bill.
“£20 million on modal shift is not going to move the
dial. If the Government and industry are to deliver their
Net Zero targets, and keep the supply chain running, there needs
to be more investment in a freight spine to the nation; cog and
spoke means rail and water freight.
“We hope that the announcement of the Government’s Growth Plan,
which includes planning reform to accelerate infrastructure
delivery, will drive progress on improved HGV facilities and
service stations. We will be raising this with the new Secretary
of State; in a cost of living crisis, another season of empty
shelves and petrol stations cannot be excused.”
