The business secretary has rejected pleas to relax the immigration rules to allow firms hit by a shortage of lorry drivers to recruit from overseas.
Kwasi Kwarteng told employers that they should hire UK-based workers and train them up as lorry drivers instead of relying on labour from abroad to ease the crisis.
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Logistics bodies estimate that there is a shortfall of around 100,000 HGV drivers, which is threatening the supply chain.
It is understood that the shortage has been driven by a combination of Brexit, Covid-19 and a shortage of HGV driver testing capacity at DVSA test centres, as well as long-standing perceptions of long working hours.
Earlier this month industry body Logistics UK and the British Retail Consortium wrote to Kwarteng, urging the government to consider granting temporary work visas to HGV drivers from EU countries.
Industry bodies have also called for HGV drivers to be included on the shortage occupations list, which sets out jobs for which overseas workers can apply for visas. However, a review of the list is not expected until next year.
However, the business secretary responded to the letter by saying that hiring workers from abroad is only a short-term solution to the issue, and that companies should focus on hiring and training UK-based workers.
“The government recognise that the UK labour market has changed dramatically due to the economic impacts and measures necessary to tackle Covid-19, and I realise that by adding HGV drivers to the shortage occupation list, this could provide a short-term, temporary solution,” he said in a letter to the bodies
“However, many UK-based workers now face an uncertain future and need to find new employment opportunities. I am sure you would agree on the importance of utilising the strength of our domestic workforce, and how our migration policies need to be considered alongside our strategies to ensure UK-based workers are better able to secure decent employment opportunities.”
In a statement given to Sky News, Logistics UK’s general manager of public policy Alex Veitch said it was frustrated with the government’s decision not to relax visa requirements for HGV drivers.
“While these new domestic drivers are trained and qualify into the workforce, which can take up to nine months, and DVSA works through its backlog of outstanding HGV driver tests – which we estimate could take until early 2022 – temporary visas made available for European workers would help to overcome the current supply chain problems experienced across the country,” said Veitch.
“The industry needs drivers now, and we have been urging the government to replicate its temporary visa scheme, introduced for agricultural workers, for logistics to keep trucks and vans moving in the short term.”
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