Screeching U-turn over haulier rules ‘not going to make a massive difference’
If the trainee truckers the haulage industry so desperately needs could change direction as fast and frequently as government ministers they would sail through the HGV test.
The latest U-turn, executed to address the supply chain crisis, comes from the Department for Transport, and even by the standards of recent weeks it is a screecher.
To try and increase deliveries the government is to waive rules limiting the number of stops European Union drivers can make while in the UK.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Is the supply crisis global?
The regulations, known as “cabotage”, currently limit international drivers to two deliveries in the UK, including the one they enter the country with, in a seven day period.
That’s one fewer than EU drivers can make while working inside the bloc, but the government’s plan is for them to be allowed to make unlimited stops for 14 days, letting them deliver and drop as they see fit.
It comes after the government granted 5,000 short-term visas for British hauliers to hire EU drivers, a move that so far has attracted only a trickle of candidates.
A further 800 seasonal worker places have been agreed for butchers to clear the backlog of pigs on farms.
The intention is to address the chronic driver shortage that is affecting every link in the supply chain, from container ports that can’t clear goods to supermarkets trying to fill shelves.
Some in the logistics industry think the cabotage change may make a marginal difference, but the real impact they say will be to disadvantage British drivers and companies.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Why are there supply shortages in UK?
As well as the removal of cabotage restrictions European drivers also face no export checks on arrival in the UK – the government has delayed them until next year – unlike their British counterparts who face full Brexit red tape heading in the other direction.
Coming just days after the prime minister said business could no longer “pull the lever marked uncontrolled immigration”, and should pay higher wages to British workers, the Road Haulage Association (RHA) says it’s closer to “sabotage than cabotage”.
“It’s allowing foreign hauliers who charge low rates, and the lorry drivers who get very small pay packets, to come in and undercut the work that could be done within the UK by British haulage firms,” said Rod McKenzie of the RHA.
It’s estimated around 4-5% of deliveries were made by cabotage before Brexit, a figure that has decreased as the number of European drivers coming to the UK has dried up.
Follow the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker
Shane Brennan of the Cold Chain Federation estimates the issue is not even in the top-ten reasons EU drivers are staying away.
“It’s fine as far as it goes and we need all the help we can get, but it’s not going to make a massive difference,” he says.
“The main reason drivers are staying away isn’t cabotage, it’s because of COVID, because of the working conditions, and because there is easier work to be done on the continent.
“You might be able to make a little bit more money by doing a drop from Doncaster to Leeds before you head home, but you need a load to return with, and those have dried up massively because of export checks at the border.
“Why would you risk being stuck at Calais if you don’t need to?
“At the moment it’s as easy as you like to trade with the UK if you are European, and as easy as you like to come in, as long as you don’t work for a British company.”
Business
Ex-Post Office head of IT says Paula Vennells ‘hoped to avoid’ inquiry – and reveals she blocked her number
A former Post Office executive has said she was forced to block ex-boss Paula Vennells’ phone number after the ex-CEO called multiple times asking for help to avoid an independent inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal.
Lesley Sewell, previously the company’s head of IT, told the Post Office inquiry on Thursday that former CEO Ms Vennells had reached out to her four times between 2020 and 2021.
Ms Sewell said that she blocked Ms Vennells’ number due to discomfort with the contact.
In her witness statement to the probe, Ms Sewell said that one of Ms Vennells’ emails referenced the need to fill in memory gaps regarding Horizon and “Project Sparrow”, a committee addressing issues with forensic accountants who identified flaws in the accounting system.
“Paula contacted me on four occasions in total. I recall blocking her number after the last call as I did not feel comfortable with her contacting me,” Ms Sewell said.
“I had not spoken to Paula since I had left POL [Post Office Limited] in 2015.”
Lesley Sewell giving evidence to the Post Office inquiry. Pic: PA
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
According to Ms Sewell’s testimony, former chief executive Ms Vennells said that she had “been asked at short notice” to appear before a parliamentary select committee on “all things Horizon/Sparrow and need to plug some memory gaps”.
Ms Sewell says Ms Vennells added: “My hope is this might help avoid an independent inquiry but to do so, I need to be well prepared.”
Ms Sewell, who struggled to contain her emotions and broke down in tears while giving her oath at the start of her inquiry evidence, was offered support and breaks as needed by chairman Sir Wyn Williams.
Sir Wyn told the former executive: “Ms Sewell, I appreciate this may be upsetting for you, Ms Price will ask you a number of questions in a proper and sensible manner, but if at any time you feel you need a break, just let me know, all right?”
Lesley Sewell taking the oath at the Post Office inquiry. Pic: PA
The Post Office has faced significant scrutiny following the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office which highlighted the Horizon IT scandal.
The faulty system led to the prosecution of more than 700 sub-postmasters between 1999 and 2015, with many still awaiting full compensation despite government announcements regarding payouts for those with quashed convictions.
London City Airport will on Thursday name its first permanent female chief executive as it targets approval of an expansion plan that would create nearly 1,500 jobs.
Sky News understands that the Docklands airport has told staff that Alison FitzGerald, who has been co-CEO since January alongside finance chief Wilma Allan, has landed the role.
A woman wearing a face mask walks by London City Airport, which suspended its operations during the pandemic
She replaces Robert Sinclair, who left in January after six years to become boss of the High Speed 1 rail link.
The airport is owned by a consortium of Canadian pension funds and Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, which have backed a plan to increase its annual passenger traffic from about 6.5m to 9m.
It is appealing against Newham Council’s rejection of a planning application that would see it extend operating hours at the site, which is popular with City commuters.
The airport’s proposals include no increase in the annual number of flights and, in what it claims is a first for a UK airport, a commitment that only cleaner, quieter, new generation aircraft will be allowed to fly in any extended periods.
The runway at London City Airport
The appeal is being reviewed by the Independent Planning Inspector.
Its change of leadership makes London City the second of the capital’s airports to name a new CEO in quick succession, following the arrival at Heathrow of Thomas Woldbye last year.
“London City delivers one of the best passenger experiences in the UK and I’m committed to building on this success even further,” Ms FitzGerald said.
Representatives of Thames Water’s multinational syndicate of shareholders are poised to quit as directors of its corporate entities after refusing to inject the billions of pounds of funding required to bail it out.
Sky News has learnt that a number of board members at companies connected to Kemble Water Finance, Thames’s parent, are expected to resign in the coming days.
City sources described the move as “the logical next step” after the owners of Britain’s biggest water utility said they would not commit more than £3bn to help upgrade its ageing infrastructure and shore up its debt-laden balance sheet.
A default on part of Thames Water‘s holding company debts last month has raised the prospect that the company is heading towards special administration, a form of insolvency that would effectively leave the government liable for managing a utility firm which serves nearly a quarter of Britain’s population.
Money latest:
Rainy day for iconic British brand as profits suffer
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Thames Water under threat
Thames Water is owned by a group of sovereign wealth funds and pension funds from countries including Abu Dhabi, Australia, Britain, Canada and China.
A number of the investors are represented on boards which sit at various points in the group’s labyrinthine capital structure.
It was unclear on Wednesday whether Michael McNicholas, a representative of the giant Canadian pension fund Omers and who sits on the board of Thames Water Utilities Limited, was among those in the process of stepping down.
Read more:
Directors hold crunch talks over utility’s future
Even bigger surge in bills proposed under new plans
Along with the rest of the privately owned water industry, Thames Water faces a crucial moment next month when Ofwat, the industry regulator, publishes its draft determination on companies’ five-year business plans.
The draft rulings will be subject to negotiation before final versions are published in December.
Thames Water and a spokesman for Kemble declined to comment.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Environment12 months agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports1 month agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports7 months agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment1 year agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Environment1 year agoTesla advances Powerwall pilot project with German electric company