No 10 on brink of U-turn to plug gap in petrol driver shortages
Downing Street is on the brink of a U-turn which will allow overseas HGV drivers to plug the gaps causing emergency shortages, Sky News understands.
Ministers met earlier for urgent talks on how to address the shortage – which one industry body estimated at more than 100,000 drivers – but No 10 has not yet revealed what measures will be taken.
However, Sky’s deputy political editor Sam Coates reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cleared the way to allow a visa change to prevent a crisis which could disrupt significant, critical areas of the economy.
The change will allow thousands of lorry drivers and potentially people involved in the food industry who live overseas to swiftly get visas.
The details are set to be revealed on Sunday in a bid to overshadow the start of Labour’s party conference.
Retailers have warned the government has just 10 days to save Christmas from “significant disruption” due to the shortage.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has warned that disruption to festive preparations will be “inevitable” if progress is not made.
Sky’s political correspondent Tamara Cohen reported earlier that ministers were split on whether or not to offer temporary visas to try and tackle the shortage of HGV drivers.
A delivery of fuel at a Shell garage in Clapham, London
Meanwhile, Sky News understands that government departments are being asked to come up with emergency contingency plans in case high fuel prices persist.
Other measures being suggested are that the military could help qualify people to become HGV drivers to reduce waiting times to pass the test.
But, at present, there is no request for the military to provide fuel lorry drivers themselves, a defence source told Sky News.
“No one has asked us to provide drivers. No one is currently asking us. I don’t expect anyone to ask us to provide drivers,” they said.
Troops with HGV qualifications have the capability to test would-be civilian drivers to enable them to gain the right qualifications to drive HGV lorries, according to the source.
On Friday afternoon, BP said that between 50 and 100 stations have been affected by the loss of at least one grade of fuel, with around 20 of its 1,200 sites currently closed through loss of delivery supply.
Shell reported an “increased demand” at stations, with many drivers experiencing longer queues than normal.
Tesco said two of its 500 petrol stations were affected – describing the impact as minimal.
Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons said they were not affected.
The AA has said that most of the UK’s forecourts are working as they should, with president Edmund King saying: “There is no shortage of fuel and thousands of forecourts are operating normally with just a few suffering temporary supply chain problems.”
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HGV driver shortage ‘a cocktail of chaos’
Speaking to Kay Burley, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the shortage of drivers should “smooth out fairly quickly” as more HGV driving tests have been made available.
“The problem is not new,” the transport secretary insisted, adding: “There has been a lack of drivers for many months through this pandemic because during the lockdown drivers couldn’t be passed through their lorry HGV tests, and that is what has led to this problem.”
The latest ONS Labour Force Survey found that 14,000 EU lorry drivers left the UK in the year to June 2020.
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
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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
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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.
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